Donald Trump’s attack on Fani Willis has one key objective: Attorney

Donald Trump may be goading Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to file a defamation lawsuit against the former president in retaliation for his constant attacks against the Georgia prosecutor, according to a legal expert.

For two and a half years, Trump has repeatedly lashed out at Willis and her criminal investigation into attempts to overturn the 2020 election results, for which the former president is widely believed to soon be charged.

Among some of the attacks against Willis from Trump is accusing the prosecutor, who is Black, of being racist toward him, and accusations that her election interference investigation is a politically motivated witch hunt.

Trump’s attacks have not slowed amid reports he will be indicted for the fourth time this year as part of her probe. In a Wednesday interview on Newsmax, Trump referred to Willis as not a capable woman. Trump also recently claimed, without evidence, that Willis had an affair with a Georgia gang member, a claim Willis’ office denied in an email obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, as derogatory and false.

Speaking to Newsweek regarding the affair allegations, which were also pushed by Trump’s campaign team in a video ad, attorney and legal political analyst Andrew Lieb said that his first thought is that Trump wants to get sued for defamation in order to trigger another reason to seek donations from his supporters.

“That is also the second and third thought,” Lieb said.

However, the likelihood of Willis seeking a defamation suit against the former president, whom she is hoping to prosecute on criminal charges, is slim.

Defamation is hard to prove in a legal capacity as the plaintiff must prove the defendant acted with actual malice—meaning they were aware that a statement was untrue or acted with reckless disregard as to whether it was false or not.

As noted by Lieb, any further legal action taken against Trump by Willis could also benefit Trump and his claims of political persecution.

“Trump would likely be net positive if he gets sued and even if he loses millions of dollars because getting sued by Willis would be a great talking point for his fundraising grift of his base,” Lieb said.

“That all said, suing personally could create a conflict of interest for Willis in the expected indictment of Trump, so I doubt she has even thought about bringing the case.”

Newsweek has reached out to Trump’s and Willis’ offices via email for comment.

At a New Hampshire rally on Tuesday, Trump told a crowd of his supporters that a young racist woman in Atlanta ended up having an affair with the head of the gang, or a gang member, who she was investigating.

His campaign team this month released a video, which Trump also shared on Truth Social, that alleged Willis had attempted to hide a relationship with a gang member, while appearing to misinterpret comments made during a Rolling Stone interview with Atlanta rapper YSL Mondo, a co-founder of the Young Stoner Life (YSL) label that is also accused of being a street gang.

Mondo, whose real name is Fremondo Crenshaw, would later be charged by Willis’ office as part of an expansive racketeering case in which rapper Young Thug was also indicted.

During the Rolling Stone interview, Mondo claimed that Willis’ prosecution of Young Thug was different from how she dealt with him.

“This is not her character, this is not who she is,” Mondo told Rolling Stone. “I done had auntie-to-nephew, mother-to-son type of talks with her. I know this not her character. This is what made me start looking at [the YSL case] like I know it’s bigger than just her. It’s politics behind this…. It’s other people that’s behind her pulling strings.”

There was no indication that Mondo and Willis had any sort of romantic relationship, nor were there any attempts to conceal such a relationship.

In an email to her staff urging them not to comment on the speculation, Willis said: “You may not comment in any way on the ad or any of the negativity that may be expressed against me, your colleagues, this office in the coming days, weeks or months.

“We have no personal feelings against those we investigate or prosecute and we should not express any.”