The now-dismissed racketeering case Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis leveled against President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants has collided with a newly enacted Georgia law that allows defendants to recover attorney fees if the prosecutor has been disqualified from the case due to improper conduct. When Trump and others asked to be reimbursed $16.8 million for the failed prosecution, Willis motioned to block the compensation.
The Georgia Supreme Court declined her request to review the December 2024 ruling from the Georgia Court of Appeals that disqualified her and her office from the case, finding a “significant appearance of impropriety” regarding Willis’ undisclosed romantic affair with a married prosecutor she had hired to work the case.
Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee ruled on March 9 that Fani Willis cannot intervene in the case because she had already been “wholly disqualified” from the prosecution that caused the disputed legal costs. The sweeping alleged election interference case was dismissed in November 2025. In January, Trump filed a motion for payment of $6.2 million in attorney fees, with more than 200 pages of invoices attached as exhibits.
The president’s lead defense attorney Steve Sadow argued:
“This dismissal paves the way for the award of reasonable attorney fees and litigation expenses pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 17-11-6. Each of the necessary elements have been met: DA Willis was disqualified based upon improper conduct, the criminal case was dismissed, and the criminal case was pending when the statute went into effect. This motion is timely filed.”
In his order shutting Willis out of the legal fee dispute, Judge McAfee said the interests of her office were "adequately represented by the State,” and disqualification bars the district attorney’s office from returning to contest the claims.
Sadow posted his response to McAfee’s ruling on X: “Judge McAfee has properly denied DA Willis’ motion to intervene in POTUS’ action for reimbursement of attorney fees because her disqualification for improper conduct bars Willis and her office from any further participation in this dismissed, lawfare case.”
Defiant Fani Willis
As she had with the Court of Appeals ruling disqualifying her and her office, Willis filed a motion for a certificate of immediate review and a stay of proceedings. In her pleading, Willis argued:
“Whether the District Attorney can intervene in the attorney fees litigation is of exceptionally great importance to litigation, because this attorney fee litigation seeks to take money budgeted to the District Attorney without her participation. Additionally, O.C.G.A. § 17-11-6 is a new and unchallenged statute that prescribes no process other than a bench trial. Any errors in the proceedings to award attorney’s fees without the participation of the District Attorney would necessitate the repetition of hearings on the motions of attorney fees.”
Legal expert Colin Kalmbacher wrote in Law & Crime that the bench trial to recover legal fees will not be easy for the president and his co-defendants. The uncharted territory of an untested law arguably adds to the uncertainty.
Judge McAfee granted Fulton County's request to participate in the fight over $16.8 million in legal fees because the county provides the bulk of the funding for the district attorney's office. He wrote that “the financial buck appears likely in some form to eventually stop at the county's desk." That means it will trickle down to the taxpayer and voter.
The unprecedented criminal trial of a president, wrought with scandal and conflict, may come to haunt Fani Willis in ways she never calculated: a reduced budget, public scrutiny, and future votes.
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