Thanks to some misleading reporting last night, lots of folks are now fretting that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will be removed from office and the Trump prosecution stopped as early as October.
Let me calm your fears. While it is always possible, it is not likely to happen the way some people assume. And it’s definitely not likely to happen on or immediately after October 1.
Here are some facts and the law:
First, the law in Georgia is very different than the Florida process that allowed Ron DeSantis to unilaterally remove state officials.
Georgia SB 92, passed in May, sets up a Prosecuting Attorneys Qualification Commission which has the power to “discipline, remove, and cause involuntary retirement of appointed or elected district attorneys” in accordance with Article VI, Section VIII, Paragraph II of the Georgia Constitution.
This Commission must be filled by former elected District Attorneys, former elected judges, and former assistant District Attorneys. Some appointments have already been made, but the Commission has not yet been fully staffed.
The statute sets out very specific grounds for removing a District Attorney, most of which would not and could not be applied to DA Willis. The closest possibility is the consideration of a complaint on the grounds that she made a charging decision based on undue prejudice against the accused.
It would be difficult for anyone to argue that the Trump indictment was a “charging decision” by the District Attorney since Trump was not charged by the DA; his indictment was handed up by a grand jury pursuant to the legal grand jury process. The Trump indictment was a charging decision by the grand jury, not the DA.
But even if someone tried to have Willis removed as DA on the ground of this or other charging decisions she has made, Willis has proven herself to be extraordinarily skilled and extremely savvy; it would be foolish to assume that she has at any point left herself vulnerable to such a charge.
But even if the panel accepted with a spurious complaint against Willis, the process for investigating and removing a DA is long and rather complicated and could not be completed overnight. Moreover, there is an appeal process in the case of removal, and that would also delay any effort to remove her. In addition, there are other avenues of appeal that could be taken outside of the process set forth in the statute.
Also, a group of state district attorneys has already sued to strike down the law, and that will have to work its way through the courts and it’s possible that could further stall any implementation of the law. It is likely that if an attempt to remove Willis were launched, the action would be enjoined by the court.
So, while it is certain that Trump’s minions will try to have Willis removed under this new law, and although it is possible that she could eventually be removed after an extended and complex process, such a possibility is so far down the road it is not worth getting ourselves worked up over it right now.
Donald Trump was indicted in a major RICO case yesterday. That is huge. There’s no point in looking down the road for pitfalls that haven’t occurred, aren’t certain to occur, and over which none of us has any control anyway.
To quote Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell in “Apollo 13”:
“There are a thousand things that have to happen in order. We are on number 8. You’re talking about number 692.”
Please don’t fall prey to the hysteria the media is paid to generate and has a vested interest in maintaining at each stage of this process.
This is a long game. Keep your eye on the ball.