'Thin on evidence' case against Fani Willis could be headed for derailment: law professor

Attempts to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her office from prosecuting Donald Trump and a multitude of others for election interference contained in a RICO indictment may meet its match in the Georgia Constitution.

That is the opinion of Anthony Michael Kreis, a constitutional law professor at Georgia State University College of Law, who has been following the interrogation of Willis and prosecutor Nathan Wade over accusations they have been conducting a longtime affair that has compromised the case.

In an opinion piece for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kreis states that, from what he has seen, there has been a lot of "drama" surrounding the inquiry but little in the way of substance that would lead to their dismissal based on requirements set forth in the Georgia Constitution.

After admitting a ruling on the status of the prosecutors is in the hands of Judge Scott McAfee, Kreis claimed what attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who is representing 2020 Trump campaign operative Michael Roman, has presented is "thin on evidence."

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And that, he claimed is where Willis' job as a constitutional officer comes into play.

"The statutory language, which instructs that district attorneys should be disqualified from cases in which they have an 'interest or relationship,' has remained untouched since Georgia codified it in 1860. This verbiage reflects a strict historical standard for disqualification from English and early American common law. It means that Willis could only be disqualified if an actual conflict of interest violates the due process rights of criminal defendants."

According to the legal scholar, Trump and his Fulton County co-defendants have failed to provide "concrete" evidence that Willis "financially benefited from her romance with Nathan Wade" which would have constituted "an actual conflict of interest."

Barring a "non-speculative, concrete conflict of interest" being presented, he suggested the RICO case should proceed, adding, "While gossip and courtroom drama may dance close to creating an appearance of conflict or impropriety in some observers’ eyes, it is an insufficient basis to remove Willis and would violate the Georgia Constitution."

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