EXCLUSIVE: President-elect Donald Trump reacted to the Georgia Court of Appeals decision to disqualify “corrupt” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her team, telling Fox News Digital that the case “is entirely dead” and that the “wonderful patriots who have been caught up in this for years” should “receive an apology.”
The Georgia Court of Appeals on Thursday disqualified Willis and her team from prosecuting Trump and co-defendants in her election interference case.
President-Elect Donald Trump reacts during his meeting with Prince William, Prince of Wales at the Embassy of the United Kingdom’s Residence on Dec. 7, 2024 in Paris, France. (Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images)
The court did not toss the indictment but declared that Willis and her team now have “no authority to proceed.”
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Trump said the “whole case has been a disgrace to justice.”
“It was started by the Biden DOJ as an attack on his political opponent, Donald Trump,” he said, “They used anyone and anybody, and she has been disqualified, and her boyfriend has been disqualified, and they stole funds and went on trips.”
Trump said the case “should not be allowed to go any further.”
In this handout provided by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, former U.S. President Donald Trump poses for his booking photo at the Fulton County Jail on Aug. 24, 2023, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via Getty Images)
“There is no way such corrupt people can lead a case, and then it gets taken over by somebody else,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “It was a corrupt case, so how could it be taken over by someone else?”
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis looks on during a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse on March 1, 2024, in Atlanta. (Alex Slitz-Pool/Getty Images)
“The case has to be thrown out because it was started corruptly by an incompetent prosecutor who received millions of dollars through her boyfriend โ who received it from her โ and then they went on cruises all the time,” Trump said, referring to Willis’ relationship with a former prosecutor on her team, Nathan Wade.
Willis โ the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia โ previously said the allegations brought against her of having an โimproperโ romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade were made because she is Black. (Getty Images)
“Therefore, the case is entirely dead,” Trump said. “Everybody should receive an apology, including those wonderful patriots who have been caught up in this for years.”
Willis’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Trump spokesman and incoming White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital that “in granting President Trump an overwhelming mandate, the American people have demanded an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all the Witch Hunts against him.”
“We look forward to uniting our country as President Trump Makes America Great Again,” Cheung said.
The Georgia Court of Appeals on Thursday ruled that the trial court “erred by failing to disqualify DA Willis and her office.”
“The remedy crafted by the trial court to prevent an ongoing appearance of impropriety did nothing to address the appearance of impropriety that existed at times when DA Willis was exercising her broad pretrial discretion about who to prosecute and what charges to bring,” the decision states. “The court said while it recognizes that “an appearance of impropriety generally is not enough to support disqualification, this is the rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings.”
“Accordingly, we reverse the trial courtโs denial of the appellantsโ motion to disqualify DA Willis and her office,” the filing states. “As we conclude that the elected district attorney is wholly disqualified from this case, โthe assistant district attorneys โ whose only power to prosecute a case is derived from the constitutional authority of the district attorney who appointed them โ have no authority to proceed,'” the decision states.
