Trump to Seek Millions In Damages From Fani Willis After Botched Prosecution
President Donald Trump is seeking nearly $6.3 million from Fulton County, Georgia, in connection with a dismissed case against him, which was pursued by District Attorney Fani Willis. In 2023, Willis indicted Trump under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, alleging that he acted illegally in his efforts to contest the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The case was eventually dismissed, and in December 2024, the Georgia Court of Appeals stated that a lower court had erred in allowing Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade, who is also her romantic partner, to choose between stepping aside.
The court ruled that the “significant appearance of impropriety” meant Willis and her office should be “wholly disqualified.” Willis appealed that decision, but she lost in court.
This incident led to a motion seeking to recover $6.3 million in attorneys’ fees, referencing a Georgia law that stipulates that when a district attorney is dismissed, the defendant in the case “shall” be entitled to a payout.
The motion filed by attorney Steve Sadow, representing Trump, spans three pages and includes approximately 200 pages of attachments detailing the costs Trump seeks reimbursement for.
Arguing the law “mandates such recovery when a prosecuting attorney is disqualified due to improper conduct and the case is dismissed,” the motion said Willis launched a “politically motivated, lengthy investigation.”
“This dismissal paves the way for the award of reasonable attorney fees and litigation expenses,” the motion said.
“Each of the necessary elements have been met: DA Willis was disqualified based upon improper conduct, the criminal case was dismissed, and the criminal case was pending when the statute went into effect. This motion is timely filed,” the document added, noting as well that co-defendants in the case can also seek reimbursement.
“President Trump intends to adopt the motions for attorney fees and costs filed by his co-defendants,” a footnote said. “He will do so in a separate pleading after all such motions are filed.”
Willis snapped again this week at former defendants in the election interference cases for attempting to recoup their legal fees.
“We’re gonna fight with everything we legally can in that particular case. The law’s unconstitutional and just wrong in so many ways,” Willis told Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne.
A state law passed last year allows President Trump and others charged in the Willis office’s election interference case to try to get their legal fees back since the charges were dropped.
Willis says she will go to court to fight against having to pay the defense lawyers about $17 million in legal fees.
“The first problem is that the law was written with the intent of legislators trying to help their friends, and so whenever you do something for a wrong purpose, it’s going to work out wrongly. It’s terribly written. It looks like they wrote it on the back of a napkin,” Willis said.
Chris Anulewicz, an attorney, told Winne that he represents one of the former defendants. He says he doesn’t think the law is badly written, as it was created in response to what Willis and her office did, which he believes was wrong.
Willis says that to get the fees, the prosecutor has to say that the defendant did something wrong. It was decided that there was an appearance of wrongdoing, but courts found no actual wrongdoing.
Anulewicz says that the law in question would cover even behavior that seems wrong.
Willis says lawyers are trying to get money back for things like hotel rooms that cost over $1,000 a night and seafood lunches that cost over $300.
Last month, Willis mounted an aggressive defense of her failed prosecution of Trump and his allies, testifying for more than three hours before a Georgia Senate panel investigating her conduct in the high-profile election interference case.
Trump Warns Iran of ‘Total Obliteration’ if They Try To Harm Him HH
President Donald Trump warned Iran that continued assassination threats made by leaders in Tehran would be met with the country getting “blown up” and “total obliteration.”
“Well, they shouldn’t be doing it but I’ve left notification,” Trump said. “Anything ever happens, we’re going to blow the whole — the whole country’s going to get blown up.”
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Biden-era Intelligence officials briefed Trump about the alleged threats against him during his presidential campaign in 2024. Former Attorney General Merrick Garland said the plot was retaliation for the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani by the U.S. in 2020, during Trump’s first administration.
Despite being briefed by his administration, Trump on Tuesday said President Biden “should have said something” on the matter, adding that presidents should defend each other on such matters.
“But I have very firm instructions,” Trump continued. “Anything happens, they’re going to wipe them off the face of this earth.”
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Trump also spoke about the ongoing negotiations between the United States and Iran in Geneva.
“What are you expecting from these Iran talks in Geneva?” a reporter asked Trump aboard Air Force One.
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“So, I’ll be involved in those talks indirectly, and they’ll be very important. We’ll see what can happen. Typically, Iran’s a very tough negotiator; they’re good negotiators — or bad negotiators. I would say they’re bad negotiators because we could have had a deal instead of sending the B2s to knock out their nuclear potential. We had to send the B2s. I hope they’re going to be more reasonable. They want to make a deal,” Trump said.
“Have you been told that a deal is next to impossible?” the reporter followed up.
Trump replied, “No. I think they want to make a deal. I don’t think they want the consequences of not making a deal. They want to make a deal.”
WATCH:
Trump previously said that he instructed officials to destroy Iran if they killed him.
The president said this after signing an executive order right after taking office that gave him all the tools he needed to talk to Iran’s government and put as much pressure on Tehran as possible.
“They haven’t done that and that would be a terrible thing for them to do,” Trump said at the time. “Not because of me — if they did that, they would be obliterated. That would be the end. I’ve left instructions, if they do it, they get obliterated, there won’t be anything left. And, they shouldn’t be able to do it.”
Trump warned last week that the United States could send additional warships toward Iran if ongoing diplomatic negotiations fail to produce a deal, signaling that military pressure could increase as talks over Tehran’s nuclear program stall.
In remarks to Axios, Trump said the administration is considering deploying a second aircraft carrier strike group to the region in addition to the USS Abraham Lincoln and 9 additional warships already positioned near Iran, though he expressed hope that a diplomatic agreement can still be reached.
“Either we will make a deal or we will have to do something very tough like last time,” the president told Axios on Tuesday, a reference to the bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites in June.
“Last time they didn’t believe I would do it. They overplayed their hand,” Trump added. “We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going.”
The president emphasized that the United States is seeking to persuade Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions, halt the development of its ballistic missile program, and end support for militant proxy groups. Iranian officials have so far resisted expanding negotiations beyond nuclear-related issues.
He described the nuclear issue as a “matter of course” part of any negotiation, but also insisted that an agreement with Iran must also address Tehran’s ballistic missile stockpiles, per Axios.
Trump said the US “can make a great deal with Iran,” and Tehran “very much wants to make a deal.”
Trump’s comments came ahead of a planned visit to Washington, D.C. by Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to press for a tougher U.S. stance and broader terms for any Iran deal that would include constraints on Tehran’s missile capabilities and regional activities.
Before heading to DC, the Israeli leader previewed some of what he and Trump were going to discuss.
“I will present to the president our understanding of the principles of the negotiations (with Iran) – the essential principles that are important not only to Israel – but to everyone who wants peace and security in the Middle East,” Netanyahu told reporters, per the New York Post.
The administration has already bolstered its military presence in the Middle East, with multiple warships and aircraft deployed as a means of deterrence and leverage.
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