Judge Allows Trump, Co-Defendants To Pursue Millions In Fani Willis Legal Fees
Fani Willis, the District Attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, encountered a legal setback after a judge denied her attempt to intervene in a case concerning reimbursement of legal fees tied to the now-dismissed prosecution of Donald Trump and several co-defendants.
The decision by Scott McAfee allows a legal effort seeking nearly $17 million
in attorney fees and related costs to move forward. The claims stem from the collapse of the high-profile election case that was originally filed in 2023.
That year, Trump and 18 others were indicted in Fulton County, Georgia, on allegations that they conspired to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election results, which narrowly favored Joe Biden. However, the prosecution later fell apart and was ultimately dismissed, leading several defendants to request reimbursement for the legal expenses they accumulated while defending themselves.
Willis’s office attempted to join the ongoing litigation in an effort to challenge the reimbursement claims. Judge McAfee rejected the request, ruling that the District Attorney’s office no longer had legal standing to participate because Willis had already been disqualified from the case. He noted that the state is currently represented by a temporary district attorney appointed after Willis’s removal, meaning the government’s interests are already represented.
However, the judge did grant permission for Fulton County Government to intervene in the proceedings. Because the county funds most of the District Attorney’s office operations, it could ultimately be responsible for paying any court-ordered reimbursements.
The dispute centers on a Georgia law passed in 2025 that allows defendants to recover legal costs when a prosecutor is disqualified and the case is later dismissed. If the requests are approved, taxpayers could face significant financial consequences.
Trump alone is seeking more than $6.2 million in attorney fees under the statute.
Willis argued that the law permitting reimbursement is unconstitutional and maintained that her disqualification was not the primary reason the case was dismissed. Nevertheless, Judge McAfee declined to halt the reimbursement process while those arguments are considered.
Willis was removed from the case in December 2024 after defense attorneys argued that her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade created a conflict of interest. Courts later ruled that the situation created a significant appearance of impropriety, leading to the disqualification of Willis and her office.
The next phase of the litigation will involve reviewing the reimbursement requests to determine whether the amounts sought by defendants—including Trump—are reasonable under state law. That process could take weeks or months and may lead to additional appeals before a final decision is reached.