Marjorie Taylor Greene Wants Georgia to Disbar DA Fani Willis

Stephanie Lai, David Voreacos and Bob Van Voris
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene asked for the disbarment of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her romantic relationship with a top prosecutor in her Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump.

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Greene complained on Wednesday to the state bar association after Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee in Atlanta ruled that Willis’ romance with special prosecutor Nathan Wade had created an appearance of impropriety requiring one or the other to step aside. Wade, who secured an indictment of Trump and 18 others for trying to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in 2020, has resigned.

“I am requesting an investigation of Fani Willis, her suspension, and her disbarment,” Greene wrote in a complaint filed with the State Bar of Georgia that was reviewed by Bloomberg News. The bar association can discipline lawyers for violating its rules of professional conduct.

In his ruling, McAfee sharply criticized Willis’ conduct and judgment. He found an “odor of mendacity” hung over the case, writing that “an outsider could reasonably think that the district attorney is not exercising her independent professional judgment totally free of any compromising influences.”

Georgia law permits anyone to file a grievance against a licensed lawyer. Proceedings are confidential, so any decision by the Georgia State Bar to investigate or to drop Greene’s complaint wouldn’t be made public. The state’s supreme court has the final say over public discipline of attorneys.

Suspensions and disbarment are issued in only the most serious cases and a public reprimand or no discipline at all are also possible outcomes.

A spokesperson for Willis didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The bar complaint is the latest move from Trump allies working to discredit the case as an unfair overreach of the Biden administration, a strategy that the Trump campaign has used to gain sympathy from voters.

The complaint is another obstacle confronting Willis as she pursues one of four prosecutions of Trump, the former president and presumed Republican nominee to face Biden again in November. She also faces investigations by the House Judiciary Committee over her use of federal funds, a state Senate committee and the Fulton County ethics board. It isn’t clear what impact, if any, these efforts will have on the election interference case.

McAfee granted a request from Trump and seven co-defendants Wednesday for permission to appeal his March 15 ruling that Willis didn’t engage in a conflict of interest. Greene had previously asked Governor Brian Kemp for a criminal referral against Willis.

In her complaint, Greene faulted McAfee for not barring Willis from the case outright and for not finding she lied on the witness stand about her relationship with Wade.

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