President Donald Trump is demanding that Fulton County, Georgia, reimburse him nearly $6.
3 million in legal fees after the collapse of District Attorney Fani Willis high-profile criminal case against him.
The sweeping reimbursement request follows a stunning legal reversal for Willis, whose attempt to prosecute Trump under Georgias Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute imploded after her own conduct came under scrutiny. As reported by Western Journal, the Georgia Court of Appeals in December 2024 concluded that a lower court erred when it allowed either Willis or her romantic partner and special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, to step aside, rather than removing Willis entire office from the case.
In its ruling, the appellate court found that the significant appearance of impropriety surrounding Willis relationship with Wade required that she and her office be wholly disqualified. Willis appealed that decision and lost, leaving the prosecution in ruins and opening the door for Trumps legal team to seek compensation under a Georgia statute designed to protect defendants from abusive or improper prosecutions.
The motion, filed Wednesday by Trump attorney Steve Sadow, invokes a state law that says when a district attorney is disqualified for improper conduct and the case is dismissed, the defendant shall be entitled to recover reasonable attorneys fees and costs. Arguing that the statute is not discretionary, the filing states that the law mandates such recovery when a prosecuting attorney is disqualified due to improper conduct and the case is dismissed, and accuses Willis of launching a politically motivated, lengthy investigation.
This dismissal paves the way for the award of reasonable attorney fees and litigation expenses, the motion declared. It further asserted that 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.
The three-page motion is backed by roughly 200 pages of billing records and supporting documents detailing the $6.3 million in legal work Trump says was required to fend off the failed prosecution. The filing underscores that Trump was forced to mount an extensive and expensive defense against charges that never should have been brought, a point conservatives have long made about the wave of prosecutions targeting the President.
Trumps team also made clear that the President will not be the only one seeking to hold Willis office financially accountable. The motion noted that Trumps co-defendants are likewise eligible to seek reimbursement, and a footnote stated, President Trump intends to adopt the motions for attorney fees and costs filed by his co-defendants. He will do so in a separate pleading after all such motions are filed.
The Georgia statute at issue is explicit about the consequences when a prosecutor crosses the line. It provides that when a prosecuting attorney is disqualified due to improper conduct on the part of such prosecuting attorney and the case is dismissed by the court or a subsequent prosecutor tasked with prosecuting such case following such disqualification, then any defendant against whom such charges are dismissed shall be entitled to an award of all reasonable attorneys fees and costs incurred by the defendant in defending the case.
Speaking to Law and Crime, Sadow said the case was rightfully dismissed and that Trump is now simply invoking the protections the legislature put in place. In accordance with Georgia law, President Trump has moved the Court to award reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred in his defense of the politically motivated, and now rightfully dismissed case brought by disqualified Fani Willis, he said, framing the request as a matter of legal fairness after a partisan prosecution backfired.
Sadow acknowledged that any payout will ultimately fall on Fulton County taxpayers, but he argued that responsibility lies squarely with Willis and the voters who empowered her. Of course, I feel for them. Unfortunately, for them as well, they made the choice for Fani Willis, he said, according to WAGA-TV, emphasizing that citizens are now bearing the financial burden of a prosecutor who, in his view, tried to turn her office into a political weapon.
Fani Willis brought this politically motivated, ill-fated case. She got disqualified; she lost. And the law says, now her office has to pay for her conduct, Sadow added, underscoring the principle that government officials who abuse their authority should not be shielded from the consequences of their actions.
Willis is now seeking to intervene in the dispute over legal fees, a move that suggests she will fight efforts to make her office pay for what critics see as a partisan crusade against a political rival. For conservatives, the unfolding battle in Fulton County is more than a local budget issue; it is a test of whether the justice system will impose real costs on prosecutors who use their power to pursue ideological vendettas rather than equal justice under the law.
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