We got news, of sorts, in the election interference case in Georgia. It’s not exactly about the case being prosecuted by Fani Willis. But it carries a lesson for the case, as the Fulton County district attorney’s potential disqualification still looms.
The news is that there’s finally a prosecutor assigned to investigate Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, whom Willis was barred from investigating before she brought her indictment against Donald Trump and others. It took nearly two years for a new prosecutor to be assigned to the Jones matter, which involves the “fake elector” scheme in Georgia in 2020. After all that time, instead of giving the case to a different DA’s office, the head of the state prosecutor panel that makes such reassignments will handle it himself. (In a statement Thursday, Jones said: “I’m happy to see this process move forward and look forward to the opportunity to get this charade behind me.”)
So what does this mean for Willis’ case against Trump and the 14 other remaining defendants in the racketeering case, all of whom have pleaded not guilty? Recall that, while the case is technically moving forward (albeit still without a trial date), there’s a pending defense appeal trying to have Willis and her office removed from the case. Judge Scott McAfee said that she could stay on it, and we’re waiting for the state appeals court to decide whether it’s taking up the defense’s pretrial appeal of McAfee’s ruling.
But the Jones situation highlights just how complicated it can be to get another office or prosecutor to handle a high-profile matter. And with Jones, that just involves one person. Imagine the difficulty in getting a new prosecutor or office to take on the complex case of a former president and presumptive presidential nominee, along with other high-profile figures. The substantial delay in even deciding who will decide what happens with Jones is a reminder that, if the defense is able to get Willis disqualified, that puts the entire case in doubt. Subscribe to the Deadline: Legal Newsletter for weekly updates on the top legal stories, including news from the Supreme Court, the Donald Trump cases and more.
Jordan Rubin is the Deadline: Legal Blog writer. He was a prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and is the author of “Bizarro," a book about the secret war on synthetic drugs. Before he joined MS NOW, he was a legal reporter for Bloomberg Law.
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