Petition to disqualify Fani Willis from Trump trial gets 43,000 signatures

A petition to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the election interference trial against former President Donald Trump has gathered 43,000 signatures since the judge in the case did not take that action, Newsweek reported.

Willis was involved in an improper romantic relationship with her lead prosecutor Nathan Wade, but Judge Scott McAfee ruled that only one of them had to leave the case. That ruling is being appealed.

The petition organizers, American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), said in part, "Our senior legal team – including our own former GA prosecutor – is filing a critical amicus brief urging the Georgia Court of Appeals to hear this vital case and disqualify DA Willis."

The group had a goal of 50,000 signatures by Friday but was 7,000 short at the time.

"This case isn't just about President Trump. This is about ending the two-tiered system of justice and defeating political prosecutions. Georgia is Ground Zero in this fight," the petition continued. "We're filing on behalf of every American because this impacts you, your vote, and our entire constitutional system of justice."

"Simply removing the attorney with whom the District Attorney had 'mad[e] bad choices -- even repeatedly' while the repeatedly bad decisionmaker remains at the helm is woefully insufficient," ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow said in the brief. "The odor of mendacity remains and can only be corrected by removing the disqualified District Attorney herself."