Judge bans Fani Willis from fighting Trump’s claim for millions in legal costs reimbursement
Fani Willis the scandal-plagued prosecutor in Fulton County, Georgia, who fabricated an organized crime case against President Donald Trump and others, then lost it because of her improper behavior with a paramour hired to work for her, now has been banned even from fighting Trump’s requests for reimbursement of his legal fees.
The fees submitted for reimbursement by Trump and other defendants are not insubstantial, totaling about $17 million, and by state law that would have to come from the budget for her office as prosecutor in the county.
She previously has demanded to fight the requests, allowed under a state law that says defendants can seek reimbursements from the prosecutor’s office in their case is thrown out because of bad behavior on the part of the prosecutor, as happened in this case.
A report posted at Fox News explains Judge Scott McAfee concluded in an order that since Willis already was “wholly disqualified” from the case she cannot be party to arguments over those reimbursements, at $16.8 million.
Trump alone has requested $6.2 million in reimbursement for attorney fees, which Willis had no problem requiring the defendants to incur when she pursued her charges.
The report explained the order was a “victory” for Trump in his war with Willis, who he has described as a “rabid partisan” on a “witch hunt” against him.
In fact, evidence shows that Willis’ office consulted with Democrats in Washington on her legal war against Trump, which came as part of an avalanche of lawfare against Trump at that time. Other failed cases were brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James and special prosecutor Jack Smith.
Willis claimed Trump and other defendants conspired to illegally overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. A 2025 state law lets them be paid back for their expenses when the prosecutor is disqualified.
The judge refused demands from Willis’ lawyers that she be allowed to argue in the case. They insisted, “Without intervention by the district attorney, any award would violate basic fundamental notions of due process by denying her an opportunity to be heard or even challenge the reasonableness of the claimed attorney fees before it is taken from her budget.”
The judge said the county could participate, as the money is to come from the county’s budget.
Trump’s lawyer, Steve Sadow, said, “Judge McAfee has properly denied DA Willis’ motion to intervene in POTUS’ action for reimbursement of attorney fees because her disqualification for improper conduct bars Willis and her office from any further participation in this dismissed, lawfare case.”
It was in 2024 that the Georgia Court of Appeals disqualified Willis, “finding that an undisclosed romantic relationship she had with her lead prosecutor, Nathan Wade, presented a conflict of interest.”
On official with the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council then dropped the entire case.
Willis’ original indictment focused on a January 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Willis claimed Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn his narrow loss in the state.
Joe Biden won the race by about 12,000 votes, and evidence obtained since that fight has confirmed that more than 300,000 ballots were counted for which there was no confirmation they were valid. Further, there were some 20,000 more absentee ballots counted than people who cast absentee ballots in the state.
Willis had hired her paramour to be a special prosecutor against Trump, paying him hundreds of thousands of dollars and taking exotic trips with him. First, a judge ruled that the special prosecutor had to be removed from the case, then a ruling determined Willis and her entire office had to be removed because of her behavior. And the case was dismissed.
Trump seeks to be reimbursed for legal expenses in Fani Willis case, based on recent Georgia law https://t.co/c3uHVYgbwQ
— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) January 8, 2026
Trump seeks more than $6M from Fani Willis’ office in wake of election interference case https://t.co/pCzCipVL2w #FoxNews
— Joni Myers (@JoniMyers18) January 8, 2026
BREAKING: President Donald Trump is seeking more than $6.2 million from the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office to cover his attorney fees and litigation costs in the recently dismissed criminal election interference case.
MORE: https://t.co/Afniex1l2o pic.twitter.com/FOMqoTFdcu— Atlanta Journal-Constitution (@ajc) January 7, 2026
Willis earlier had demanded that her office be exempted from the state law.
Another person charged in the case already had submitted a request for reimbursement and she filed a statement claiming the law raises concerns about separation of powers “by purporting to impose financial liability on a constitutional officer, twice elected by the citizens of Fulton County, for the lawful exercise of her core duties under the Georgia Constitution.”
The Trump case is finally dead, but Fani Willis left taxpayers on the hook for millions
Cough it up: President follows law, asks Fani Willis to reimburse him $6.2 million for legal fees
An ‘absurd amount’: Fani Willis squawks about legal fees her office is obligated to pay