Fani Willis took on Trump. But at what cost?

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis received some difficult but not entirely unsurprising news over the Thanksgiving holiday: her sweeping election subversion case against President Donald Trump and several allies was officially dismissed, ending one of the most bizarre legal chapters in Georgia history. Willis, an elected Democrat, quickly emerged as one of the president’s […]

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis discusses the indictments against then-former President Donald Trump and 18 others on Aug. 14, 2023. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis received some difficult but not entirely unsurprising news over the Thanksgiving holiday: her sweeping election subversion case against President Donald Trump and several allies was officially dismissed, ending one of the most bizarre legal chapters in Georgia history.

Willis, an elected Democrat, quickly emerged as one of the president’s most prominent political foes after the 2020 election, when her office launched an investigation into Trump’s attempts to stay in power following his narrow defeat. The investigation stemmed from a January 2021 phone call between Trump and state election officials, where he was heard urging them to “find” enough votes that would erase his deficit.

Her office would spend the months and years that followed interviewing witnesses and gathering evidence. The Fulton County Courthouse was surrounded by orange barricades and armed guards as threats to Willis increased. She unveiled the sweeping 41-count indictment in August 2023, accusing Trump and 18 allies of participating in a criminal enterprise. An angry Trump would travel to the Fulton County Jail to have his booking photo taken, becoming the first American president to appear in a mugshot.

At the time, the case seemed like it would be the strongest chance to hold the then-former president accountable in a court of law, particularly for his actions leading up to the events of Jan. 6: the central piece of evidence was caught on tape, and state prosecutions are outside the realm of presidential pardons. It also made Willis, a veteran prosecutor who spent years working in the district attorney’s office she now leads, something of a rising star in the Democratic Party as she took on an ex-commander-in-chief.

But the case was stopped in its tracks last January after defense attorneys filed a bombshell motion accusing Willis of being romantically involved with Nathan Wade, the prosecutor she hired to help lead the investigation. A native of nearby Cobb County, Wade spent years handling low-level criminal cases both as an attorney and a judge. But he had never taken on such a high profile case prior to being tapped by Willis to take on Trump and his allies.

Indeed, Willis did confirm that she and Wade had begun a relationship. But a financial connection was also established during Wade’s divorce proceedings: credit card statements found that Wade had been paying for airline tickets and other items for himself and Willis using his county-funded salary. Defense attorneys argued she was improperly reaping financial benefits from the case.

After months of hearings and motions, a top court would bar Willis and her office from prosecuting the case. Peter Skandalakis, the head of a nonpartisan prosecuting attorneys commission, assigned himself to oversee the prosecution. He quickly pulled the plug on the case, outlining the impracticalities of having a sitting president as a criminal defendant.

He also questioned whether Trump’s January 2021 phone call amounted to illegal activity: “While the call is concerning, reasonable minds could differ as to how to interpret the call,” he said. “When multiple interpretations are equally plausible, the accused is entitled to the benefit of the doubt and should not be presumed to have acted criminally.”

Even before her ultimate removal, bad judgement calls from Willis were already derailing parts of her investigation. One of the key witnesses was Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a Trump ally who participated in the so-called “fake elector” scheme as a state senator. But after hosting a fundraiser for Jones’ political opponent, a ruling from a judge would prevent Willis from bringing any charges against the Republican due to a conflict of interest.

Jones’ case also ended up in Skandalakis’ hands. His decision to dismiss the matter without bringing charges would foreshadow the ultimate demise of what had earlier seemed like the biggest legal threat to the president.

Willis has offered no public regrets about taking on the case. But the toll of a years-long, high-stakes prosecution that ultimately yielded no convictions — financial, professional, and personal — remains unclear. Only now, as the dust settles, is the full cost of her choice to take on Trump beginning to come into view.

Republican lawmakers at the Gold Dome, just a 10-minute walk from the courthouse, had blasted the case from the start and pushed for a series of measures targeting Willis and other so-called “rogue prosecutors.” One of those measures could leave Fulton County taxpayers on the hook for the defendants’ legal costs.

But the scrutiny now extends far beyond Atlanta. In Washington, congressional Republicans — and reportedly, Trump’s Justice Department — are probing Willis and many of the president’s courtroom and campaign adversaries.

So while she is showing no remorse for bringing the indictments, Willis and certainly many others have to be asking: was it all worth it? Trump is back in the White House with his aforementioned mugshot now hanging outside the Oval Office. Willis’ reputation as a skilled prosecutor has undoubtedly taken a hit, and taxpayers must now foot the bill for a prosecution that never made it before a jury.

History will look back on Willis as the first and only local prosecutor to square off with Trump over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. But her lapses in judgment and the case’s ultimate dismissal threaten to cast a shadow over her efforts to hold him accountable when it seemed like no one else would.