Fani Willis says ‘culture of fear’ Shaped Ruling that Removed Her from Trump Case

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has spoken publicly for the first time since Georgia’s highest court left in place a decision disqualifying her from prosecuting the state’s 2020 election-interference case involving President Donald Trump and others, saying she was “not surprised” given what she called a broader “culture of fear.”

On 16 September, the Georgia Supreme Court declined, by 4–3, to hear Willis’s appeal of a lower court ruling that found her office could not continue on the case because of an “appearance of impropriety” stemming from her past relationship with then–special prosecutor Nathan Wade. The decision effectively ended Willis’s role and shifted responsibility for finding a replacement to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia.

“I think judges are human beings. We are living in a culture of fear,” Willis told WSB-TV, adding that prosecutors, citizens and judges “are afraid right now for good reason.” She said she remained fond of many members of the court but believed they were “afraid to do anything other than that.”

The long-running racketeering case, filed in August 2023, charged Trump and 18 others over efforts to overturn Georgia’s election results. Four defendants have pleaded guilty; the remainder, including Trump, have denied wrongdoing. With Willis removed, a Fulton County judge has set a 14 November deadline for naming a new prosecutor—though any proceedings are expected to face further delays.

Trump’s lead Georgia attorney, Steve Sadow, welcomed the disqualification as justified. Willis has said she disagrees with the ruling but will cooperate with the transition.

The Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council has not announced who will take over or whether the case will proceed in its current form. Legal analysts note the incoming prosecutor will inherit a complex record and sensitive political environment.

What’s next: If a new prosecutor is appointed by mid-November, they could continue, narrow, or dismiss the case. In the meantime, the Midshipmen Development Center—sorry, wrong context. (Correction: The Fulton County courts have indicated only that logistical steps are under way to transfer case files and determine next actions.)

Editor’s note: Separate national developments—such as the recent federal indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James in the Eastern District of Virginia—have intensified partisan tensions around prosecutions touching Trump, but they are unrelated to the Georgia case’s procedural posture.