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Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has signed a bill intended to control “rogue” prosecutors amid increased scrutiny over Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
The bill will grant the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, established the previous year, the authority to make rules on its own without the consent of the state Supreme Court.
Speaking to the media during the bill’s signing, Kemp mentioned the crime problem and said that the legislation was required to ensure that prosecutors were effectively prosecuting offenders.
“This legislation will help us ensure rogue or incompetent prosecutors are held accountable if they refuse to uphold the law,” Kemp said. “As we know all too well, crime has been on the rise across the country, and especially prevalent in cities where prosecutors are giving criminals a free pass or failing to put them behind bars due to lack of professional conduct.”
“When out of touch prosecutors put politics over public safety, the community suffers, and people and property are put at risk,” he continued. “Today, we are renewing our commitment that we won’t forfeit public safety for prosecutors. They let criminals off the hook. Georgians deserve better, and they deserve to feel safe in their own communities.”
House Speaker Jon Burns, a Republican, made it clear that neither Willis nor any other individual was the target of the legislation.
“For us in the House, our focus is not on any one person, not on any one situation,” Burns told reporters. “It’s about asking the folks that are elected, just like me, to do their jobs and protect the citizens of this state.”
The legislation bears similarities to that passed in Texas, where the legislature passed the legislation primarily due to concerns that prosecutors would not pursue cases involving abortion.
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On Wednesday, the Fulton County, Georgia, judge presiding over Willis’ case against former President Donald Trump and more than a dozen co-defendants dismissed some of the charges against all of them after ruling the state failed to provide sufficient justification for them.
Judge Scott McAfee quashed six counts against Trump and his 18 co-defendants, reports said on Wednesday, writing that there is not sufficient evidence of “solicitation of violation of oath by public officer.”
“The Court’s concern is less that the state has failed to allege sufficient conduct of the Defendants — in fact it has alleged an abundance. However, the lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned opinion, fatal,” McAfee wrote, according to Fox News.
“As written, these six counts contain all the essential elements of the crimes but fail to allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of their commission, i.e., the underlying felony solicited,” he added.
Meanwhile, Willis will learn whether she will be disqualified from the election interference case within a couple of weeks, according to a new report.
The announcement came after McAfee heard closing arguments from several lawyers involved in the racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and others.
“The decision will come down to whether the judge believes Willis had a financial incentive to hire special prosecutor Nathan Wade for the case. Willis and Wade admitted to a romantic relationship, but the timeframe of that relationship was the crux of the argument about whether the relationship was improper,” AOL reported.
Allegations have surfaced regarding Willis, who is leading one of the four criminal cases against former President Trump, suggesting that she engaged in an improper extramarital affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. Critics contend that the relationship presents a conflict of interest, potentially compromising the case. Although Willis’ office denies any financial or professional impropriety, concerns have been raised that the affair undermines public confidence in the prosecution.
Also, a former attorney for the Trump administration has become the latest problem for Willis.
Attorney Courtney Kramer entered the race against Willis just hours before the official paperwork deadline closed on Friday. Kramer, an elections law attorney, is running as a Republican in traditionally deep-blue Fulton County. Pledging to prioritize crime reduction in the region, she has also been vocal in her opposition to Willis and her handling of the Trump prosecution, Newsweek reported Friday.
Since Richard Nixon’s victory in 1972, Fulton County voters haven’t chosen a Republican presidential candidate. In 2020, President Joe Biden secured over 72 percent of the vote in the county, which spans the heart of metro Atlanta. Similarly, in 2016, Hillary Clinton won with nearly 68 percent of the vote, the outlet continued.
“As a lawyer myself, it’s disgusting to see her not follow her rules of professional conduct or take her oath of office seriously,” Kramer, who previously interned at the Office of White House Counsel during the Trump administration, told Real America’s Voice on Monday. “It’s a disgrace to the legal community.”
Kramer has previously suggested that if it’s found that Willis lied on disclosure forms, the alleged misconduct could escalate beyond an ethics violation. Speaking to The Daily Caller in January, she said there’s a “potential for criminal liability.”
Last week, former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, an attorney herself, said she believes that Willis perjured herself when she testified about her relationship with Wade.
