Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ bid to stay on her case against President Donald Trump and his co-defendants has come to an end.
The Georgia Supreme Court declined on Tuesday to consider her appeal after a lower court disqualified her from prosecuting the case.
Defense attorneys sought to disqualify Willis for hiring her romantic partner Nathan Wade to work on the case, alleging in January 2024 she improperly benefited from awarding him a lucrative contract when he took her on cruises and vacations. Willis falsely claimed she paid all special prosecutors the same hourly rate, despite awarding Wade a higher rate than the state’s top racketeering expert, the Daily Caller News Foundation previously reported.
Willis’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
I’m pleased to announce that Fani Willis has now been permanently disqualified from prosecuting the indictment that she brought against President Trump, me, and many others.
The Georgia Supreme Court denied cert to Fani Willis, who was attempting to get that Court to take her… pic.twitter.com/mrJxKjUbMS
— Jeff Clark (@JeffClarkUS) September 16, 2025
“The Georgia Supreme Court has correctly denied review of the Georgia Court of Appeals decision disqualifying DA Fani Willis and her office as prosecutors in the Fulton County RICO case,” Trump’s lead Georgia defense counsel Steve Sadow said in a statement. “Willis’ misconduct during the investigation and prosecution of President Trump was egregious and she deserved nothing less than disqualification. This proper decision should bring an end to the wrongful political, lawfare persecutions of the President.”
The Georgia Court of Appeals found in December 2024 that the trial court “erred by failing to disqualify DA Willis and her office.”
“I’m pleased to announce that Fani Willis has now been permanently disqualified from prosecuting the indictment that she brought against President Trump, me, and many others,” White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) official Jeff Clark, who was one of the defendants Willis prosecuted, wrote on X.
“The case now moves to the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia,” he wrote. “They will decide on a replacement for Willis.”
Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia (PACGA) Executive Director Peter J. Skanadlakis said “the search for a conflict prosecutor will begin today.”
“PAC will fulfill its duty under O.C.G.A. § 15-8-5(a) to appoint another prosecutor to take over the cases,” Skanadlakis wrote in a statement. “When that decision is made, it will be announced at the appropriate time.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement from PACGA.
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