Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) recently said at a press conference that he would not support calls for him to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from office following her indictment of former President Donald Trump.
Gov. Brian Kemp rejects the idea of calling a special session to oust Fani Willis, and criticizes Trump and his allies for pushing it:
“The bottom line is that in the state of Georgia, as long as I'm governor, we're going to follow the law and the Constitution.” pic.twitter.com/VhPAKS1Z7q
— Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) August 31, 2023
Willis indicted Trump, marking the fourth time the former president has been indicted in 2023, over his alleged attempts to “overturn” the 2020 presidential election.
As reported by Breitbart News, Kemp referred to efforts to remove Willis as “political theatre.” The governor’s comments came after a Republican state senator threatened to act against Willis. Willis’ indictment charged Trump and 18 of the former president’s so-called “allies.” The Fulton County District Attorney’s indictment led to Trump receiving a mugshot.
Georgia State Sen. Colton Moore (R) recently introduced legislation to investigate whether Willis should be removed from office.
“As a Georgia State Senator, I am officially calling for an emergency session to review the actions of Fani Willis,” Moore said at the time. “America is under attack. I’m not going to sit back and watch as radical left prosecutors weaponize their elected offices to politically target their opponents.”
Responding to Moore’s actions, Kemp argued that calling for an emergency session would “ignore current Georgia law and directly interfere with the proceedings of a separate but equal branch of government.”
“Up to this point, I have not seen any evidence that D.A. Willis’ actions or lack thereof, warrant action by the prosecuting attorney oversight commission,” Kemp added, according to American Greatness.
Kemp received backlash over his statement opposing action against Willis. The Georgia governor has been heavily criticized by Trump supporters, given his rocky relationship with the former president.
During the onset of the 2020 election, Trump repeatedly criticized Kemp and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for their refusal to fight claims of election fraud in the state which could have prevented then-Candidate Joe Biden from winning Georgia.
Interestingly, Willis’ indictment of Trump stems from a phone call the former president made to Raffensperger in January 2021, where he told the secretary of state he would like to “find” the votes necessary to defeat Biden in the state.
In 2022, Trump endorsed former Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) in his bid to become governor of Georgia against Kemp. Perdue ultimately lost to Kemp in the gubernatorial election.
