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President Donald Trump is calling on Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to reimburse him more than $6.2 million in legal fees and costs following the dismissal of the Georgia election interference case she brought against him.
The request comes months after Willis was permanently disqualified from prosecuting the case due to what the Georgia Court of Appeals called an “appearance of impropriety” tied to her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. The court’s decision led to the case being formally dismissed in November.
President Trump’s motion, filed Wednesday, cites a Georgia law passed last year that allows defendants to recover “all reasonable attorney’s fees and costs” if a prosecutor’s misconduct results in disqualification and the subsequent dismissal of a case. Under the statute, the presiding judge must review and approve any reimbursement, which is to be paid from the prosecutor’s office budget.
“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,” said President Trump’s lead attorney in Georgia, Steve Sadow, in a statement.
The motion requests an award of more than $6.2 million for what Trump’s legal team described as the full cost of defending against the “baseless and unconstitutional” prosecution.
Willis had accused President Trump of leading an effort to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results, including pressuring officials, organizing “fake electors,” and harassing election workers. A grand jury indicted Trump and 18 others in August 2023, and he surrendered at the Fulton County Jail later that month.
Willis’ office has pushed back on the reimbursement request. In a recent filing responding to similar claims from other defendants, prosecutors argued the new law violates the Georgia Constitution’s separation of powers and unfairly burdens county taxpayers.
“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,” Willis’ motion said. She also claimed the law “retroactively imposes a novel fee-shifting scheme” without due process.
The judge overseeing the matter will determine whether Trump is entitled to recover the full amount from Willis’ office.
