Loeffler: Willis affair ‘shatters any notion’ of fair Trump trial in Georgia
Former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) called on the judge overseeing former President Trump's Georgia criminal case to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D).
In a Monday op-ed in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Loeffler claimed Willis’s relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade makes it impossible for her to have prosecuted the case against Trump fairly.
“Willis’ conflict of interest shatters any notion that the case against Trump has been prosecuted fairly. Her scheme is disqualifying," Loeffler wrote.
Pointing to Georgia Judge Scott McAfee’s suggestion last week the relationship “could result” in disqualification from the case, Loeffler said this would “be a step in the right direction.”
“But anything less than a complete dismissal of the case is a bandage on the open wound of a justice system that is hemorrhaging its core principle of due process,” she said.
“Too many prosecutors today are like Willis and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg: avid partisans trading impartial justice for political calculation.”
Bragg charged Trump in a separate hush money case centered on reimbursements Trump made in 2016 to his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, who paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an affair she alleged to have had with the former president.
Willis testified for nearly two hours last week, during which she defended her reputation and relationship to attorneys who argue Willis and Wade’s recent relationship makes the indictment against Trump and several of his allies “fatally defective.”
The Fulton County district attorney is accused of hiring her romantic partner, who has since financially benefited from his employment. She pushed back on the claim, which was first brought to light by defendant Michael Roman, a 2020 Trump campaign operative, and called the disqualification motion to boot her from the case “dishonest.”
Willis and Wade reiterated in court last week that their relationship did not start until early 2022 and ended in summer 2023. Prosecutors said they met at a 2019 judicial conference where they connected as jurists of color, but had a mentor-like — as opposed to romantic — relationship at the time.
Loeffler, who was appointed to fill one of Georgia’s Senate seats vacated by former Sen. Johnny Isakson (R) in 2020, reiterated the common argument that the racketeering criminal indictment against Trump and his allies is politically motivated.
“It’s no coincidence that Willis launched her re-election campaign a mere five days before she brought her formal grand jury indictment against Trump last year, or that she initially requested his trial begin exactly one week before Georgia’s 2024 presidential primary,” she wrote.
Loeffler, who testified as a witness before the Fulton grand jury in 2022, contended she was also a “target” in the grand jury’s investigation and faced scrutiny for supporting Trump's efforts to overturn the results of 2020 elections.
The former senator was among 39 people the special grand jury recommended be indicted, but Willis eventually decided against charging her.
Loeffler argued dismissing Willis from the case will not be enough to “fix a justice system,” and urged residents to vote her out on November’s ballot.
“Willis will be on the ballot in November — representing a rare opportunity to restore balance to an office that has supported the left’s pro-criminal activism for far too long,” she wrote. “As Americans, we must acknowledge and end the left’s lawfare by removing partisans from a system that demands impartiality and a commitment to upholding the law.”