A number of Republican figures are continuing to target Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis after she indicted Donald Trump over his alleged criminal attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
Willis, who has denied any suggestions that her Georgia investigation is politically motivated, indicted Trump and 18 other people as part of her expansive RICO inquiry on August 14.
Soon after the indictment against Trump and others was filed, discussions were underway to have Willis removed from office or face investigations and impeachment hearings over allegations of a partisan probe against the former president and frontrunner in the 2024 GOP primary.
One such move Republicans have suggested is to take advantage of a law Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed in May setting up a new commission that would have the power to remove local prosecutors who aren’t able to fulfill their “constitutional and statutory duties.”
In a statement at the time, Kemp’s office said the establishment of the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission (PAQC), which will start accepting complaints about prosecutors from October 1, will serve as a “valuable oversight mechanism” for district attorneys in the state.
“As hardworking law enforcement officers routinely put their lives on the line to investigate, confront, and arrest criminal offenders, I won’t stand idly by as they’re met with resistance from rogue or incompetent prosecutors who refuse to uphold the law,” Kemp said.
“The creation of the PAQC will help hold prosecutors driven by out-of-touch politics than commitment to their responsibilities accountable and make our communities safer.”
Four Georgia district attorneys have filed a lawsuit asking a judge to strike down the law to remove local prosecutors, arguing it violates U.S. and state constitutions.
In an August 21 post on Facebook, Georgia state Senator Clint Dixon, a Republican, said he will be calling on the PAQC to investigate Willis over her alleged targeting of Trump and her apparent “unabashed goal to become some sort of leftist celebrity.”
Newsweek reached out to Willis’ office via email for comment.
“Once the Prosecutorial Oversight Committee is appointed in October, we can call on them to investigate and take action against Fani Willis and her efforts that weaponize the justice system against political opponents,” Dixon wrote.
“This is our best measure, and I will be ready to call for that investigation.”
Clark D. Cunningham, a professor of law at Georgia State University, said that he believes “100 percent” that Republicans will try to remove Willis from office on October 1 using the PAQC. However, it is unclear if the move will be successful, given the commissioner’s power to remove a local prosecutor is new and never been tested.
“However, I should say that what’s being proposed, it would be a pretty serious misuse of this law,” Cunningham told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “I would hope that the new members of the commission would not themselves allow the commission to be used for political purposes.”
Cunningham added that the PAQC is “perhaps the only way” that Trump allies can remove Willis from office, given that any attempt to impeach her would be guaranteed to fail as it would require significant Democratic support.
Republican state Senator Colton Moore has called for an emergency session of the state legislature to review the actions of Fulton County District Attorney, and previously called for Willis to be impeached for allegedly targeting Trump with her investigation.
“We must defund her office… and if appropriate… IMPEACH,” Moore posted in X, formerly Twitter, on August 17.
There were also calls from GOP figures for the Republican-majority Georgia state legislature to essentially shut down Willis’ criminal investigation after Trump and the co-defendants were indicted.
Alafair Burke, a professor of law at Hofstra University and former deputy district attorney in Portland, Oregon, previously told Newsweek that while getting the Georgia state legislature to shut down a criminal investigation is a “nutty” idea, there is a longshot chance Willis’ case could be quashed once PAQC is implemented.
“A couple of years ago, I would have said that’s a complete no-go. The legislature writes the criminal code, but the executive branch enforces it with oversight by the judiciary. Straightforward separation of powers,” Burke said.
“But Georgia has joined what I think is a dangerous trend of enacting laws intended to empower them to oust prosecutors they disagree with, passing legislation recently to create a commission to discipline or even remove elected prosecutors from office.
“So in theory, yes, this newly created commission could remove Fani Willis from her position in hopes that whoever took her place would dump the case,” he said. “I could be wrong, mind you, but I am not aware of any mechanism by which they could directly dismiss the case short of repealing every applicable criminal code provision retroactively.”
Elsewhere, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan announced an investigation into the motivation of Willis’ inquiry, and alleged that she had coordinated with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office, the federal prosecutor who charged Trump with four offenses in the investigation into events which led up the January 6 attack.
“The timing of this prosecution reinforces concerns about your motivation,” Jordan wrote in a letter to Willis. “You did not bring charges until two-and-a-half years later, at a time when the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination is in full swing.
“Moreover, you have requested that the trial in this matter begin on March 4, 2024, the day before Super Tuesday and eight days before the Georgia presidential primary,” the Ohio congressman said.
It is unclear at this stage what actions Willis could face if Jordan’s office proves those allegations. Willis has denied having any contact with Smith during her inquiry.
“I don’t know what Jack Smith is doing, Jack Smith doesn’t know what I’m doing. In all honesty, if Jack Smith was standing next to me, I’m not sure I would know who he was. My guess is he probably can’t pronounce my name correctly,” Willis said ahead of her office filing the charges against Trump and others.
