Fani Willis Handed Silver Lining in Donald Trump Case

Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, will be free to prosecute major Republican figures if Donald Trump is reelected president, a legal analyst has said.

Anthony Michael Kreis, a constitutional law professor at Georgia State University, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that Trump would likely be severed from the Georgia election fraud indictment if reelected in November, as the courts will likely agree that a sitting president cannot be tried for criminal acts while in office.

In August, Willis indicted Trump and 18 others on charges related to alleged fraud in Georgia in the 2020 presidential election. All of the accused pleaded not guilty, but at least four are now cooperating with authorities.

Newsweek contacted Willis' office and Trump's attorney for comment via email.

Kreis wrote on X that, after months of legal wrangling in the case, Willis would be able to focus on major figures on the same indictment—including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani; Mark Meadows, a former White House chief of staff; and Jeffrey Clark, a former Department of Justice official.

"If Trump wins in November, he'll have to be severed and the remaining defendants tried in 2025 at some point. (Maybe). The one upshot of that for the DA, however very small, is that Meadows and Clark can be tried with the other big fish: Giuliani. Assuming she [Willis] stays on," Kreis wrote.

On Monday, the Georgia Court of Appeals announced that on December 5, it would hear a challenge to Willis' involvement in the case.

In March, Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over the election interference trial, allowed Willis to stay on the case after a move to disqualify the district attorney over her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, who has since resigned from the case.

In his ruling, while finding that the prosecution of Trump could continue, McAfee criticized Willis' tone when she was called before him to testify about the relationship: "This finding is by no means an indication that the court condones this tremendous lapse in judgment or the unprofessional manner of the district attorney's testimony during the evidentiary hearing."

Trump and nine of his co-accused—including Giuliani, Meadows and former Trump senior aide Mike Roman—have appealed his decision.

Trump is now asking the Georgia Court of Appeals to dismiss the charges or, if not, to remove Willis from the case.

The challenge to Willis has greatly delayed Trump's trial. If Trump is elected in November, he will likely be free from the Georgia case during his presidential term.

Kyle Cheney, Politico's legal affairs reporter, wrote on X on Tuesday that the Georgia case would be "frozen well into the new year. And if Trump is president, it probably goes away until at least 2029, if not for good."