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Georgia Prosecutor Blocked From Scrutinizing ‘Fake Elector’ in Trump Probe

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A judge ruled that District Attorney Fani Willis’ recent hosting of a campaign fundraiser constituted a conflict of interest.

2021-05-12T003635Z_1892565826_RC2VDN9T092O_RTRMADP_3_CRIME-GEORGIA-SPAS_1_ajaj6c
Linda So/Reuters

A judge on Monday barred Georgia’s top prosecutor from investigating one member of a scrum of Republican electors accused of falsely certifying a state victory for Trump during the 2020 presidential election. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was barred from pursuing a criminal case against state Sen. Burt Jones, Judge Robert McBurney ruled, given that she had hosted a June campaign fundraiser for Jones’ Democratic opponent in the race for lieutenant governor. Calling it a conflict of interest, McBurney wrote in his decision that “this scenario creates a plain —and actual and untenable—conflict. Any decision the district attorney makes about Jones in connection with the grand jury investigation is necessarily infected by it.” Willis and her team will not be allowed to issue a subpoena to Jones or label him as a target in the grand jury probe, McBurney said. Jones may still be probed by another district attorney, subject to the discretion of state Attorney General Chris Carr, according to The New York Times.

Read it at The New York Times