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Fani Willis, head of Trump’s Georgia election fraud case, wins re-election

Umito November 7, 2024

In difficulty Fani Willis, Atlanta prosecutorthe democrat who brought election racketeering charges against President-elect Donald Trump and 18 others, easily was re-elected on Tuesday to a second term as Fulton County prosecutor.

Willis’ victory over Republican challenger Courtney Kramer clears the way for the trial to resume — at some point — against Trump and the other defendants who have yet to plead guilty.

Given Fulton County’s demographics, Willis was widely expected to beat Kramer, who served as a consultant on Trump’s legal team after the 2020 presidential election.

Trump has suggested that if elected he would remove various court cases against him. Legal experts said Trump, as president, would have far less ability to stop the Georgia case than the federal indictments against him. Department of Justice Special Advisor Jack Smith began put an end to these affairs Wednesday, USA TODAY reported Wednesday.

The Fulton County case remains mired in controversy and legal challenges, in part because of Willis’ affair with the lead prosecutor she hired for the sprawling racketeering case, Nathan Wade.

Willis, a veteran prosecutor, filed charges against Trump, some of his former campaign and administration officials and others in August 2023 for their alleged efforts to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

So far, four of Trump’s co-defendants having pleaded guilty under agreements with prosecutors. Trump and 14 others, including his former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, have pleaded not guilty.

No trial date has been set. But efforts by Trump and some co-defendants to derail the case by demanding Disqualification or ouster of Willis essentially put him on hold for months while judges heard testimony about whether his relationship with Wade fatally compromised her ability to supervise him.

Trump and several other defendants are seeking to overturn a ruling by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who ruled in March that Willis can stay on the case despite their allegations of misconduct and financial conflict of interest. He had said he would allow some trial preparations to continue while the case was appealed.

Michael Roman, a co-defendant and former Trump campaign official, filed the first motion in January, citing Willis’ relationship with Wade and their trips to exotic destinations together that he claimed were paid for, in part, by THE more than $650,000 that Wade received as lead prosecutor in this case.

After initially making no comment, Willis and Wade acknowledged the relationship but said they did nothing wrong — and that their affair began after she hired him for the job in 2021.

In his decision, McAfee reprimanded Willis for a “a huge error of judgment” and said she could only stay on the case if Wade stepped down. He I quit the same day. Trump and other defendants later filed a motion to appeal, saying McAfee didn’t go far enough and that Willis should step down as well.

The Georgia Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments about whether to remove Willis of the case on December 5.