The Georgia state House last week passed a bill to revive an oversight panel with the authority to discipline and remove prosecutors who fail to uphold the law. However, Democrat lawmakers accused Republicans of passing the measure specifically to protect Donald Trump from criminal prosecution by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, The Hill reported.
The bill, which is similar to one passed in the state Senate the previous week, passed along party lines 95 to 75, and will now head to the Senate for a vote.
In May, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed a bill establishing the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission empowered to remove prosecutors for refusing to uphold the law. However, the state Supreme Court refused to approve the rules guiding the commission, saying it was doubtful the commission could regulate prosecutors beyond the practice of law.
The bill passed in the state House last week removes the provision requiring the state Supreme Court’s approval, according to the Associated Press.
While Georgia Democrats accuse Republicans of passing the bill solely to target Willis for prosecuting Donald Trump, Republican lawmakers insist that the legislation is aimed at ensuring that soft-on-crime Georgia prosecutors are upholding the law.
In a post on X, the state House Republican leadership said the House GOP was continuing to fight to “keep Georgia communities safe when prosecutors refuse to do their jobs.” The Republicans argued that the bill would ensure that Georgians “can hold rogue DAs accountable.”
Democrat lawmakers say that without the oversight from the state Supreme Court, there would be no one policing the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualification Commission.
House Minority Whip Sam Park, a Democrat, argued that the bill would enable the commission to “unilaterally proceed” with interfering and undermining the investigation into Trump. He accused Republican lawmakers of trying to shield the former president from a criminal prosecution.
Governor Kemp, who prefers the House legislation over the bill passed in the Senate, urged the state Senate to quickly pass the House bill.
