An entire prosecutor’s office in Georgia has been disqualified from pursuing a case against an ally of former President Donald Trump because the prosecutor helped to raise funds for that ally’s political opponent.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s public support of Charles Bailey, who’s facing state Sen. Burt Jones in the race for lieutenant governor, has created “a plain—and actual and untenable—conflict,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney said in a July 25 ruling.
“Any decision the District Attorney makes about Senator Jones in connection with the grand jury investigation is necessarily infected by it,” McBurney said.
Jones, a Republican, is one of the 16 people who signed documents to be alternative electors for Trump following the 2020 presidential election.
Based on Willis’s actions, however, McBurney granted a motion from Jones to disqualify her and her office from the case.
Willis can still gather evidence about Jones’s involvement in the election-related efforts, but she can’t use any evidence to develop a case against him.
“That decision, as to whether any charges should be brought and what they should be, will be left to a different prosecutor’s office, as determined by the Attorney General,” McBurney said.
Jones said the ruling “is a huge win for our campaign—but more importantly, for due process and the rule of law in Georgia.”
Other Motions Rejected
Motions from the other electors to disqualify Willis were rejected by McBurney.No evidence has been presented showing that she or her team is impaired by a conflict of interest, unlike in the case of Jones, the judge said.
McBurney also denied an effort to quash the subpoenas on Fifth Amendment grounds.
The actions of the electors may merit criminal prosecution, depending on the outcome of the probe, the judge said.
“It is not unreasonable to seek their testimony, and it is not oppressive to require an appearance by way of subpoena,” he said.
