A group of 17 legal experts filed an amicus brief today concluding that the Fulton County Superior Court should deny a motion by Michael Roman, Donald Trump, and attorney Bob Cheeley to disqualify DA Fani Willis, because their allegations provide no basis for disqualification under Georgia law. The Defend Democracy Project supports this brief and its conclusions. The complaint makes no claim and provides no evidence that any of the defendants were improperly indicted. Nothing the defendants are alleging led to the indictments of Trump or his co-defendants, or has anything to do with how this case has been prosecuted.
As the signers argue in the amicus brief, “Only when a personal interest is so strong that a prosecutor appears to be ‘acting… for his personal or individual interest’ rather than ‘in his character as an officer of the law’ is disqualification required under Georgia law.” Roman’s allegations against DA Willis do not reach this bar. Even if all of the defendants’ allegations were true, there would be no legal basis for disqualification. Per the amicus brief, “the relief the Defendants seek—disqualification and dismissal of the indictment—is simply not warranted.”
The court cannot allow the justice system to be undermined by tactics deployed by Trump and his fellow defendants that manufacture false controversy and distract from the merits of the case. To protect the rule of law, this case must move forward promptly to whatever conclusion is warranted by the law and the evidence.
