President Donald Trump is seeking more than $6.2 million in attorney fees and legal costs from the office of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, following the dismissal of the 2020 election interference case she brought against him.
The request comes after Willis was permanently removed from the case last September, when the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that she and her office could not continue prosecuting it. The court cited an “appearance of impropriety” stemming from Willis’ romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she had appointed to lead the case. The prosecution was formally dismissed in November.
Under a law passed by Georgia state legislators last year, defendants are entitled to seek reimbursement of legal costs if a prosecutor is disqualified due to their own improper conduct and the case is subsequently dismissed. The statute allows defendants to request “all reasonable attorney’s fees and costs incurred” in their defense. Any award is reviewed by the judge overseeing the case and paid from the prosecutor’s office budget.
Trump’s lead Georgia attorney, Steve Sadow, said the request follows directly from that law.
“In accordance with Georgia law, President Trump has moved the Court to award reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred in his defense of the politically motivated, and now rightfully dismissed, case brought by disqualified DA Fani Willis,” Sadow said in a statement.
A motion filed Wednesday asks the court to award Trump $6,261,613.08 in legal fees and costs.
“President Trump prays that this Court award attorney fees and costs for the defense of President Trump in the amount of $6,261,613,08,” the filing states.
Trump and 18 others were indicted by a Fulton County grand jury in August 2023. Trump surrendered at the Fulton County Jail on August 24, where he was booked and released.
Last month, another defendant in the same case filed a similar request for reimbursement. In response, Willis’ office submitted a motion asking to be heard on any fee and cost claims.
In that filing, Willis’ office challenged the constitutionality of the law that allows defendants to seek reimbursement, arguing it improperly targets elected prosecutors.
“The statute raises grave separation-of-powers concerns 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 motion said.
Willis’ filing also argued that the law violates due process by applying retroactively.
The statute, her office said, “retroactively impos[es] a novel fee-shifting scheme” that places a substantial financial burden on Fulton County taxpayers without providing them any recourse.
This article originally appeared on Great America News Desk. It is republished with permission.
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