Fani Willis Runs Out of Time as She Faces Fresh Legal Action

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has until midday on Monday to recuse herself from Donald Trump's Georgia election interference case, or face legal action, according to a warning from one of the former president's co-defendants.

The threat came from Harrison Floyd, former leader of Black Voices for Trump, who alleged Willis illegally recorded a telephone call with his attorney in an unrelated criminal case in Maryland.

Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election in March but his bid for a second White House term is complicated by a series of criminal cases. In August 2023 Trump was charged with 13 counts over allegations he broke the law attempting to overturn his 2020 presidential election defeat in Georgia. He pled not guilty to all counts and in March three of the charges against him were dismissed.

On Thursday Floyd shared screenshots from an article purportedly from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution which claimed Willis's team had shown the publication a recording from a conversation the district attorney had with Carlos J.R. Salvado, who is representing Floyd in a Maryland criminal case.

Floyd suggested that Willis' office may have violated the Maryland Wiretap Act, under which it is unlawful to record any private in-person conversation or telephone communication unless you are a party to the conversation and have the permission of all of the parties.

He added: "I don't want to put a black woman in Jail. But if Fani Willis does not recuse herself from this case by noon on Monday, I may have no other choice than to pursue all lawful remedies. Make Fulton Great Again."

Most states have one-party consent laws that allow a telephone conversation to be recorded by one side without the explicit consent of the other. However in 11 states, including Maryland, the consent of both parties is required to record these calls.

Under Maryland's Wiretap Act, recording a private conversation without consent from both parties is punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.

Newsweek contacted the Fulton County District Attorney's office for comment outside of normal working hours on Monday.

Attorney Christopher Kachouroff, who is representing Floyd, made the same allegation on April 2 during an interview with legal analyst Phil Holloway.

Kachouroff said: "She did reach out to us, one of my colleagues in Maryland, and was rude, abrupt with him on the phone, and he was dealing with the Maryland case and I was dealing with the Georgia case, and she ended up recording him."

Asked explicitly whether he was accusing Willis of illegally recording the call, Kachouroff replied: "Oh yeah, it's a felony in Maryland."

Floyd was charged in Georgia with three charges including racketeering, conspiracy to solicit false statements and influencing witnesses over claims he tried to overturn Joe Biden's 2020 election victory in the state. He pleaded not guilty.

He is the only one of the 19 original Georgia election interference case defendants to have spent time behind bars, having been imprisoned between August 24 and August 30 when his lawyer negotiated a $100,000 bond.

The case is being overseen by Judge Scott McAfee who in March accused Willis of having a "tremendous lapse in judgement" concerning her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. However she was allowed to remain on the case provided Wade stepped aside, and he resigned shortly afterwards.