Who Could Replace Fani Willis on Donald Trump's Case?

A new filing seeking to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from Donald Trump's election interference case has raised the question of how she might be replaced if the motion is successful.

On Monday, a motion was filed in Fulton County on behalf of Michael Roman, a former Trump staffer who served as director of election day operations for his 2020 campaign and is now among the co-defendants charged in his Georgia election interference case. The filing alleges that Willis and Nathan Wade, an attorney who as served as a special prosecutor in the Trump election case, were engaged in a romantic relationship, which it further alleges resulted in Wade being improperly hired for the case.

As reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Roman's motion offers no concrete evidence of a romantic relationship, instead citing "sources close to both the special prosecutor and the district attorney have confirmed they had an ongoing, personal relationship." The filing calls for Willis, Wade, and the District Attorney's office overall to be disqualified from the case. Willis's office has said that it will respond to the allegations "through appropriate court filings."

Speaking with Newsweek about the filing, David Aronberg, a Florida state attorney and legal expert, said that the allegations from Roman's filing are "much ado about nothing" and unlikely to result in Willis's removal.

"These allegations are just that: allegations by a criminal defendant, and they are much ado about nothing," Aronberg wrote. "Honest services fraud only applies to quid pro quo bribery, which doesn't exist here. In addition, even if the allegations of a personal relationship are true, how does that harm the defendant? The evidence is the evidence."

In the, in his view, unlikely event that the filing is successful in removing Willis from the case, Aronberg said that the next step in replacing her and her office would be to pass the case onto another district attorney, or an even higher office.

"I do not believe Fani Willis will be recused from this case, nor should she be. If she is recused or removed from the case, the matter could be transferred to another District Attorney or possibly the Georgia Attorney General," Aronberg added. "The case would not be dismissed based on these allegations, even if they are true."

Christopher M. Carr is the current Georgia Attorney General. As a Republican, it is unclear if he would agree to take the case against Trump. Carr has in the past dismissed Trump's false claims that election fraud cost him the 2020 election in Georgia. More recently, however, he also signed on to a brief calling for Trump to be reinstated to the presidential ballot in Colorado.

If the case were to be handed off to another district attorney's office, Aronberg said that it would likely be at the discretion of Carr or Governor Brian Kemp to decide where. Gwinnett, Cobb, and DeKalb are the next biggest counties in Georgia by population after Fulton and are currently served by District Attorneys Patsy Austin-Gatson, Flynn D. Broady Jr., and Sherry Boston, respectively. All three are Democrats, like Willis. Cherokee County, the seventh largest by population in the state, is the largest county in Georgia with a Republican district attorney.

Newsweek reached out to other legal experts via email for further comment.