Georgia court slams Trump allies' plan to punish prosecutors in new ruling
A prosecutor-punishment commission Donald Trump and his allies could use to target Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis took a hit this week when the Georgia Supreme Court refused to sanction its rules, according to a new report.
In an order issued Tuesday, the justices declined to approve rules and regulations proposed for the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, signed into law earlier this year by Gov. Brian Kemp, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
“We have grave doubts that we have the constitutional power to take any action on the draft standards and rules,” the order reportedly states.
“The most prudent course for us is to decline to take action without conclusively deciding any constitutional question.”
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This order effectively stymies the commission — which has already begun to receive complaints — because it cannot act without a code of conduct approved by the court, according to the report.
Kemp and fellow Republicans publicly heralded the commission as a means to protect Georgia’s citizens and ensure a fair and accountable court system, but the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported a possible political objective.
The commission's creation earned praise from Trump, who celebrated the pending removal of “local rogue prosecutors who are incompetent, racist, or unable to properly do their job.”
That may be why critics fear the commission would be weaponized against Willis and prosecutors who investigated Trump, accused of corruptly attempting to overturn the state’s presidential election in 2020.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to those charges, brought in August by Willis.