Fani Willis Suffers 'Embarrassing' Screw-Up: Legal Analyst

Fulton County District Attorney suffered an "embarrassing" screw-up in the ongoing election interference case against former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants, according to attorney and legal commentator Elie Honig.

While appearing on CNN's Newsroom with Jim Acosta, Honig spoke about a recent ruling by Judge Scott McAfee to dismiss some of the charges brought against Trump in Georgia and said "look, it's embarrassing for prosecutors."

"It's a screw-up by prosecutors when you bring a charge and then a judge throws it out before it even goes to trial," Honig said.

The Context

Willis indicted Trump and 18 others on charges relating to alleged attempts to interfere with the 2020 election in the state. Willis alleged that Trump and others violated Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

On Wednesday, McAfee threw out six counts in the indictment, including three that were levied against the former president for his alleged efforts to persuade former Georgia House Speaker David Ralston and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to violate their oaths of office.

In his ruling on Wednesday, McAfee wrote that "the lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned's opinion, fatal."

What We Know

Trump has continued to deny any wrongdoing in the case and one of his co-defendants, Michael Roman, previously filed motions to have Willis disqualified from the case.

Roman alleged that Willis had a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor hired by the Fulton County District Attorney's Office, during the investigation into Trump. Willis and Wade testified that their relationship began after Wade was hired.

Newsweek reached out to the Fulton County District Attorney's Office via email for comment.

Views

On X, formerly Twitter, legal analyst Anthony Michael Kreis wrote that he believes McAfee's decision was correct, saying: "The DA never plainly detailed the constitutional theory of why what the defendants were doing was a violation of constitutional principles. There are various ways to articulate that but the defendants were not given notice by the DA sufficient to create a defense."

"Judge McAfee has said the state can come back for a second bite at the apple but they must give adequate, detailed explanations in order to protect the defendants' due process rights. This is a good thing," Kreis added.

What's Next

McAfee is expected to issue a ruling this week on attempts to have Willis disqualified from the case.

Former federal prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers told CNN last month that if Willis is disqualified, the case against Trump "is effectively over."

Clarification 3/13/24, 2:13 p.m. ET: This story was updated to clarify that three of the six counts thrown out were specifically against Trump.