NEW: Fani Willis Officially Hit With Death Blow In Trump Case

The dying gasp of Fani Willis’s prosecution of President Donald Trump came on Monday when a Georgia appeals court dismissed her final attempt to try him with charges related to the 2020 election.

Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, lost in a 4-3 decision when the court declined to overturn a lower court’s ruling that Willis demonstrated a “significant appearance of impropriety” in her prosecution. The initial decision resulted in Willis being tossed from the case after the discovery of her romantic relationship with another Trump prosecutor.

A sprawling racketeering case brought by Willis has been at a standstill for months. The Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council may appoint a special prosecutor in the case, but given Trump’s return to the White House, it now appears highly unlikely.

Willis said in a statement that she disagrees with the court’s ruling but respects its decision.

“I hope that whoever is assigned to handle the case will have the courage to do what the evidence and the law demand,” Willis told The Hill, adding that her office will provide material resources should a new prosecutor be assigned.

Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead attorney in Georgia, in a statement said the state’s high court had “correctly denied review.”

“Willis’ misconduct during the investigation and prosecution of President Trump was egregious and she deserved nothing less than disqualification. This proper decision should bring an end to the wrongful political, lawfare persecutions of the President,” Sadow said.

Willis indicted Trump and 18 co-conspirators for scheming to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. She famously alleged that Trump told Gov. Brian Kemp to “find” 11,000 votes that separated him from Joe Biden and charged other defendants with seeking to unlawfully disqualify votes.

It became one of four criminal cases to overshadow Trump’s campaign to return to the White House. But the Republican snagged a break when the attorney for one co-defendant alleged that Willis carried on a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, whom she hired for the Trump case and paid $700,000 over two years.

The revelation became a national embarrassment for Trump critics, and further discoveries — including a trip by Willis to the Biden White House where she discussed the case — further tainted the evidence she presented against Trump.

A trial judge ruled that either Willis or Wade must step aside from the case to avoid the “appearance of impropriety.” Wade resigned, but an appeals court later found that neither individual could fairly prosecute Trump.

Georgia Supreme Court Justice Andrew Pinson noted the “public spotlight” on the case and the importance of establishing a clear disqualification standard.

“If this question — whether conduct creating an appearance of impropriety alone is grounds for disqualifying a prosecutor — is presented by future cases, we may well need to take it up in one of them,” Pinson said.

“But, in my view, that possibly cert-worthy question is not presented by this case, at least not as it appears before this Court.”