Trump Team Lawyer Wants to Replace Fani Willis

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' new Republican challenger wants the prosecutor disqualified from former President Donald Trump's case in Georgia, calling Willis' conduct a "disgrace to the legal community."

Attorney Courtney Kramer qualified to run against Willis on Friday, hours before the deadline to file official paperwork closed. Kramer, an elections law attorney, is running as a Republican in solid-blue Fulton County. While she promises to focus on cracking down on crime in the area, she's also been an outspoken critic of Willis and her prosecution of Trump.

Fulton County voters have not elected a Republican presidential candidate since Richard Nixon in 1972. In 2020, President Joe Biden carried the county, which stretches across the heart of metro Atlanta, with more than 72 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton won in 2016 with almost 68 percent of the vote.

"As a lawyer myself, it's disgusting to see her not follow her rules of professional conduct or take her oath of office seriously," Kramer, who previously interned at the Office of White House Counsel during the Trump administration, told Real America's Voice on Monday. "It's a disgrace to the legal community."

Newsweek reached out to Kramer for comment.

Willis has been criticized for her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she hired to help prosecute former President Donald Trump and his allies in the election interference case. Although the couple maintains that their relationship did not begin until after Wade's appointment, the co-defendants in the RICO case argue that it is a conflict of interest that warrants Willis' office's disqualification from the prosecution.

Kramer previously said that the alleged misconduct could go beyond an ethics violation if it's determined that Willis lied on disclosure forms, telling The Daily Caller in January that it could be a "potential for criminal liability."

Before Kramer officially jumped into the race, Willis offered a message to her potential challengers while filing her paperwork at the state Capitol on Wednesday.

"This is a democracy we live in, and so people have a right to run for office, but they should come prepared for a fight," Willis told reporters. "They should know that my heart is still in this work. My heart will continue to be in this work and I intend to be the DA for the next four years and nine months."

Kramer's LinkedIn profile shows that she previously worked as a litigation consultant for Trump's legal team. In this role, she researched and advised on "voter registration and election integrity matters" on behalf of the former president and the Georgia Republican Party. She also worked for the state GOP as a special counsel who advised, drafted and consulted on matters related to former Chairman David Schafer.

Several members of the state GOP, including Schafer, are also named as co-defendants in the RICO case.

Kramer attended Georgia College & State University and received her juris doctor from Emory University.

Update 3/8/24, 3:21 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.