Sources familiar with the effort say that Donald Trump's allies in Georgia are mounting a campaign to recall the Fulton County District Attorney over her investigation into the then president's attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The organizers of the campaign concede that the obstacles to a successful recall in Georgia are high, making the chances of getting a recall vote on the ballot before her decision on whether to indict Trump and his associates at best.
According to a source involved in the effort, the aim is to use the recall campaign as a way to damage the Democratic district attorney in order to target high-profile Republicans. If a case against Trump goes to trial, a side benefit of that game plan is to possibly influence a jury pool down the road.
One high-ranking Georgia Republican involved in the recall effort said the goal was to politicize it. The message here is that Will is going to make this about politics.
The source who is helping to raise money for the effort said that Trump and his associates at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida are aware of the recall campaign and that among those actively involved in the effort are the Georgia Republican Party chairman and Brad Carver. The two men were among the 16 fake electors in Georgia who recently received letters from the prosecutor telling them they were facing charges.
Bernard Marcus, the co- founder of Home Depot and a strong supporter of Donald Trump, is one of the donors who the organizers are talking to about possibly funding the recall campaign. Marcus wasn't reachable for comment. Messages seeking comment were not responded to by the two men.
The recall campaign burst into public view this week when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, shared a message from Bill White, a pro- Trump activist from Atlanta. Fulton County taxpayer's money is being used for a political witch hunt against Pres Trump, but won't prosecute crime in Atlanta. Atlanta has worse crimes than Chicago. The person wrote "recall."
The district attorney is investigating and prosecuting crime in Fulton County without fear or favor, as she promised the voters when she ran for the office in 2020. She is happy to discuss with the voters why it is important that everyone be treated equally before the law, since people have the right to express their opinions.
The recall effort is at a crucial point in the investigation. She is currently fighting legal battles over appearances by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Rudy Giuliani has been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury. Giuliani is expected to object to answering certain questions on the grounds of attorney-client privilege if he shows up.
Even as her investigation picks up speed, she has also faced setbacks. In a ruling last week, Fulton County Chief Judge Robert McBurney disqualified her and her office from questioning one subpoenaed witness, Republican state Sen. A conflict is created by this scenario.
Activists who have sought recall campaigns against prosecutors in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Philadelphia are what the Trump allies are trying to emulate. The recall effort against San Francisco's district attorney was successful. Georgia has a recall law that makes it very difficult for a campaign to succeed. In order to be recalled, offenses include acts of malfeasance in office, violations of an officeholder's oath, failure to perform duties "prescribed by law" and willfully misuse of public funds or property. The law requires recall proponents to get signatures from at least 30% of the registered voters in the jurisdiction where the officeholder is. There were over one million voters in Fulton County. It will take more than 240,000 signatures to get a recall on the ballot.
According to Chris Huttman, a Democratic political consultant who did polling for the campaign for district attorney in 2020, Donald Trump got over 135,000 votes in Fulton County. Even if every Trump voter in Fulton County signed the petition for recall, they would still need to find 100,000 signatures.
In contrast to the progressive prosecutors in other cities that have faced recalls, Willis was endorsed by the police union in her race against Howard and was campaigning on a platform of more aggressive prosecution of violent crime.
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