GOP-backed law that could punish Fani Willis for Trump probe challenged in Georgia

Four district attorneys are challenging a Georgia law many view as a political weapon that could be used against the Fulton County prosecutor who's investigating Donald Trump.

A lawsuit filed Wednesday seeks to block the law, which Gov. Brian Kemp and other Republicans insist it's a reaction to prosecutors who pledged not to charge low-level drug offenders or enforce the state's anti-abortion law, some Democrats see the measure as retribution against Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“From the moment they started drafting this legislation it was clear to me they had crossed constitutional lines,” said DeKalb County district attorney Sherry Boston, who filed the suit along with Jonathan Adams, the top prosecutor in Butts, Lamar and Monroe counties; Cobb County district attorney Flynn Broady; and Augusta district attorney Jared Williams.

The law establishes a Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission to sanction "rogue prosecutors" accused of neglecting their duties, but Georgia already allowed legislators to impeach district attorneys, although that has rarely occurred, and voters can remove them through recall and regular elections.

“This law puts every prosecutor in every judicial circuit at risk of being removed any time someone disagrees with their decision,” Boston said. “A commission like this is putting its foot on the neck of each and every one of the prosecutors.”

The lawsuit argues the commission will be used as a weapon by residents who believe their local prosecutor doesn't share their "simplistic, punitive approaches" to criminal justice, and the plaintiffs warned the law has already caused prosecutors to shield their views from the public to avoid scrutiny.