Fanny Willis’s dramatic fall from grace
When Fannie Willis accused Donald Trump and 18 of his allies of rigging the election in August 2023, the Atlanta District Attorney made international headlines and won praise from her Democratic colleagues.
A little more than a year later, Willis was forcibly removed from the case by an appeals court, her lead prosecutor was removed by a lower court, and Trump’s indictment was concluded.
Newsweek She requested comment via email Friday from Willis and a Trump spokesman.
Here’s a timeline of Willis’ astonishing rise and fall and Trump’s indictment of her:
Alex Slitz/Getty Images
August 14, 2023
Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County, which covers most of Atlanta, Georgia, charged Trump and 18 others with illegally seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Trump was charged under the Georgia Corrupt Influenced and Racketeering Organization [RICO] law, which allows Willis to link different criminal acts together to show an overall pattern. He pleaded not guilty.
In a packed press conference, Willis issued an ultimatum to Trump, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and the 17 other defendants.
“I give the defendants the opportunity to voluntarily surrender no later than noon on Friday, August 25, 2023,” she said.
Trump did surrender, and his photo was taken at the Fulton County Jail.
The photo was on the front page of newspapers around the world, and Trump supporters later wore it on T-shirts as a sign of defiance.
October-November 2023
Willis’ case got off to a very strong start as Trump’s mid-ranking lawyers on the indictment began to crack.
Sidney Powell and Ken Chesebrough both pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate.
Powell, in particular, is a key figure and ran Trump’s legal team, along with Rudy Giuliani, after the 2020 presidential election.
Jenna Ellis breaks down in tears in court as she admits her guilt and asks for forgiveness.
On November 1, her attorney, Frank Hough, told the Altanta Journal-Constitution that it was Powell and Chesebro’s decision to cooperate that prompted Ellis to make a deal with Willis’ office.
Legal critics expect it is only a matter of time before the top officials indicted, such as Giuliani or former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, agree to cooperate. Willis could not have flown higher.
January 8, 2024
The new year brings bombshell revelations. Ashley Merchant, a lawyer for Mike Roman, the defendant in the case with Trump, filed a complaint with the trial judge, Scott McAfee, alleging that Willis had a relationship with the prosecutor in the case, Nathan Wade.
Merchant points out that Wade, who had no prosecution experience, was only chosen to prosecute the highly complex case because of the relationship.
Newsweek I requested comment via email Friday from Wade.
January 19, 2024
A leaked court record from Wade’s divorce reveals Wade’s credit card transactions. It shows that he and Willis went on a Caribbean cruise together in October 2022, and that he paid for at least two trips, months after he was hired by her office in January of that year.
The merchant later provided documents proving he had booked a double bed at an Aruba hotel and a photo of a typical luxury room at the same hotel.
Later documents requested by Merchant show that Willis and Wade went on a wine-tasting vacation together in California.
February 15, 2024
Judge McAfee organizes a private hearing with Willis and Wade called to give evidence about their relationship.
Willis goes on the offensive, repeatedly attacking Merchant, Trump, and his co-defendants.
McAfee urged her and the other lawyers to remain “professional” and not “talk over each other.”
His pleas were unsuccessful.
“You lied about this. … I think you lied here,” Willis told Merchant, referring to court filings Merchant made about Willis and Wade’s relationship.
“You think I’m on trial,” Willis told Merchant. He added: “These people are being tried for trying to steal the 2020 elections. I am not being tried, no matter how much you try to put me on trial.”
March 8, 2024
Trump seizes the opportunity. At a rally in Rome, Georgia, he told the crowd:
“You have a woman named Fanny Willis,” which led to boos from the audience.
“I think it’s spelled FANI. To my way of thinking, that’s Fani. But once I became district attorney, I think it focused a little on U. Fani,” he said to laughter and applause from the audience.
So the corrupt Fanny Willis hired her lover, Nathan Wade, so they could make money together by fraud. “Let’s make money, honey. let’s see. Who can we go after? Well, if we go after someone no one has ever heard of, we can’t do much. I have an idea. Let’s do what Joe Biden and everyone wants.
March 15, 2024
McAfee issues a scathing ruling saying either Willis or Wade should drop the case. He rebukes Willis for her lack of professionalism during her testimony and says the stain of wrongdoing still hangs over the case. Wade resigns from the case hours later.
November 5, 2024
Trump wins the US presidential elections, easily winning all the swing states, including Georgia. Willis was re-elected as Fulton County District Attorney that same night.
Since no sitting president can be impeached, Trump will be free from the Georgia case until at least 2029.
December 19, 2024
Acting on a petition from Trump and several other defendants, the Georgia Court of Appeals removed Willis from Trump’s case, while stating that she had undermined public confidence in the legal system.
“Although we recognize that the appearance of wrongdoing generally is not sufficient to support disqualification, this is the rare case in which disqualification is imposed and no other remedy will be sufficient to restore public confidence in the fairness of these proceedings,” the court ruled.
Greg German, a law professor at Syracuse University in New York, said: Newsweek On Thursday, the case against Trump has now become extremely difficult.
He said, “The issue of election interference in Georgia is really stuck in the mud. It is not possible to move forward against Trump until he leaves office in four years. Who knows what the world or Trump will be like in four years.”
He said the evidence “should be limited” because the Supreme Court’s July 1 ruling on presidential immunity gave Trump broad protection from prosecution.
“Who’s going to sue her if Willis doesn’t overturn her dismissal on appeal? They could move forward with the case against the other defendants, and they probably will, but even that is bogged down by Willis’ dismissal,” he said.