Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis faces another legal blow after being removed from the high-profile case she brought against former President Donald Trump and 18 others, alleging they tried to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results. Her disqualification stemmed from revelations that she appointed her romantic partner, Nathan Wade, as lead prosecutor.
In response, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp recently signed Senate Bill 244 into law. Passed by the Republican-led legislature, this measure allows state taxpayers to reimburse legal fees for criminal defendants if a prosecutor is removed from a case due to misconduct and the charges are dismissed.
Trump’s attorney, Steven Sadow, told Forbes that the new law represents a major step toward holding “unethical and politically motivated prosecutors” accountable for their actions.
The legislation specifies that defendants are eligible to recover “all reasonable attorney’s fees and costs” if their charges are dropped and the prosecutor handling their case is disqualified over misconduct.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, State Senator Brad Beach, who sponsored the bill, acknowledged that the Trump case inspired the legislation.
However, Trump and his co-defendants are not yet entitled to reimbursement. To qualify, the charges must first be dismissed — a step that has not occurred as of now.
Willis has appealed her removal to the Georgia Supreme Court, which has not decided whether it will take up the case. In her appeal, she argued that no Georgia court has ever removed a district attorney solely for the appearance of wrongdoing without proof of actual misconduct.
Willis was removed in December by the Georgia Court of Appeals, which found that her prior relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade created a conflict, or at least the appearance of one. The court concluded that neither Willis nor anyone in her office could continue handling the Trump case. Wade had already stepped down from his role in October.
In a separate legal matter, court filings in March revealed that Willis had been ordered to pay more than $54,000 in legal fees after violating Georgia’s Open Records Act. The breach occurred when her office failed to provide records requested by attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who represents Michael Roman, one of the co-defendants in the Trump case.
Newsweek reported that this legal setback further complicates Willis’ efforts to pursue the election interference case she launched in 2023 — a case that remains unresolved. Trump has consistently denied the allegations and accused Willis of orchestrating a politically motivated prosecution.
The judge presiding over the records case noted that Willis’ office had shown a “lack of good faith” and was “openly hostile” to the document requests, handling them differently from others.
As the legal battle continues, the fate of both Willis’ appeal and the possibility of Trump receiving reimbursement under Georgia’s new law remains uncertain — but the implications are already rippling through the state’s legal and political landscape.
