Kemp signs law reviving Georgia sanctions panel that could disrupt Willis prosecution of Trump

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed a law Wednesday allowing a commission to begin sanctioning and removing prosecutors in the state, which could disrupt Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s prosecution against former President Trump.

“This legislation will help ensure rogue and incompetent prosecutors are held accountable if they refuse to uphold the law,” Kemp said before signing the bill.

Kemp originally signed the bill into law last May, creating the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, which could discipline and remove particularly “far-left prosecutors” who make their communities “less safe.”

In November, the state Supreme Court refused to approve the rules governing the panel’s conduct, saying there were “grave doubts” it could regulate the duties of district attorneys beyond the practice of law. The measure passed in the state House in January removes the requirement for state Supreme Court approval.  

The law would require district attorneys and solicitors general to evaluate each case on its own instead of declining to prosecute classes of offenses. Democrats argue that Republicans are trying to override the will of voters and are inviting abuse by creating a commission without another body to review its conduct.

Judge Scott McAfee ruled on Friday that Willis (D) or the prosecutor she had a romantic relationship with must step aside before the office can continue its election interference case against Trump and his allies.

McAfee ruled that Willis’s once-romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade constituted an appearance of conflict of interest in the racketeering case.