Renewed criticism is being cast on the actions and public comments of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as she battles efforts by former President Donald Trump’s legal team to have her removed from prosecuting the high-profile racketeering case against the former president.
And she could be in big trouble.
Fox News legal analyst Kerri Kupec Urbahn questioned the apparent double standard in how Willis has avoided gag orders restricting her ability to speak publicly about the case, despite Trump facing strict limitations on what he can say.
“How is the harm that they say Trump is causing by tweeting about political bias any different or worse than, say, the district attorney in Georgia talking publicly about the case?” Kupec Urbahn asked, citing Willis making comments like “God is on my side.”
Urbahn said there are concerns that Willis’ outspoken media presence could potentially intimidate jurors or business leaders worried she could similarly “apply the law in a way that’s never been applied before” against them.
Even Democratic strategist Karen Finney, a former Clinton adviser, cautioned Willis to “rein herself in and stop doing media interviews” ahead of upcoming hearings, warning “She’s got to bring it down and stay focused on…prosecuting the case.”
Willis is currently fighting Trump’s appeal to remove her from the case her based on her previously undisclosed sexual relationship with Nathan Wade, a prosecutor that she hired.
Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee allowed Willis to stay on the case on the condition that Wade resigned.
While clearing Willis of specific conflicts, the judge scolded her “tremendous lapse in judgment” and ruled comments she made at a church appearance were “legally improper” — though he did not require her dismissal.
“Providing this type of public comment creates dangerous waters for the District Attorney to wade further into,” McAfee ruled in late March.
In her filing to the appeals court, Willis argued the judge “correctly found she had no conflict of interest” and that her out-of-court comments did not amount to denying Trump a fair trial, with “nothing like a calculated pre-trial plan to prejudice the defendants.”
Trump’s team contends Willis had an improper “financial stake” in the case and that her “forensic misconduct” through public statements necessitates disqualification to “remove the stain…from the remainder of the case.”
As both sides await the appeals court decision on potentially removing Willis, the high-profile sparring has showcased the contentious legal battleground surrounding Trump’s historic prosecution.
With these serious allegations of ethical breaches against the prosecutor of a leading presidential candidate during an election, the trial has become a major challenge to the legal system.
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The Horn News editorial team