Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has encountered yet another significant complication in the election-interference case she initiated against former President Donald Trump and several co-defendants. The embattled prosecutor, already under scrutiny for her conduct in the case, now faces new legal and political developments that could further undermine the prosecution’s future—and possibly its very survival.

The latest setback comes after Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 244, legislation approved by the state legislature that allows criminal defendants to recover taxpayer-funded reimbursement for legal expenses if a prosecutor is removed from their case for misconduct and the charges against the defendant are dismissed. The bill is widely viewed as a direct response to the controversy surrounding Willis and her handling of the Trump investigation.

Steven Sadow, Trump’s lead attorney in the Georgia case, told Forbes that Kemp’s approval of the law “marks a major turning point in holding unethical, opportunistic, and deceitful prosecutors accountable for their misconduct.” According to the text of the bill, a defendant becomes eligible for repayment of “all reasonable attorney’s fees and costs incurred” if the prosecuting attorney is disqualified due to misconduct and the case against the defendant is ultimately thrown out.

Republican State Senator Bradley Beach, who sponsored the measure, acknowledged that the Trump case played a key role in prompting the legislation. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that concerns about prosecutorial behavior in high-profile cases—particularly Willis’s—motivated his decision to advance the bill.

While the law opens the door for potential reimbursement, Trump would not be entitled to recover the $4.2 million he has reportedly spent on his defense unless the charges against him are formally dismissed. As of now, despite Willis’s disqualification, the charges remain active and the case continues to linger in legal limbo.

Willis was removed from overseeing the prosecution after revelations that she had hired Nathan Wade, a private attorney with whom she had a romantic relationship, to serve as the special prosecutor on the case. Critics argued that the relationship created at least the appearance of a conflict of interest, and a Georgia appeals court agreed, ruling in December that Willis and members of her office no longer had authority to continue leading the prosecution. Wade resigned from his role in October amid mounting public pressure.

Although Willis’s removal was finalized by the Georgia Court of Appeals, the court did not dismiss the indictment itself. Instead, it left open the possibility that the prosecution could continue under different leadership. Willis has since appealed the decision to the Georgia Supreme Court, arguing in a January filing that no Georgia court had previously disqualified a district attorney “for the mere appearance of impropriety without the existence of an actual conflict of interest.” The state’s highest court has not yet announced whether it will take up the matter.

These complications arrive on top of another legal blow Willis received earlier this year. In March, she was ordered to pay more than $54,000 in attorney fees after a judge found that her office violated Georgia’s Open Records Act. The dispute stemmed from Willis’s office failing to provide documents requested by attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who represents former Trump aide Michael Roman, one of the defendants charged alongside the former president.

Merchant argued that Willis’s office had stonewalled her requests in bad faith, and the judge agreed, finding that the district attorney’s office had shown “open hostility” toward the inquiries and had handled them in a manner “different from other requests.” This behavior, the judge wrote, demonstrated a “lack of good faith,” resulting in the order for Willis’s office to pay Merchant’s legal costs.

The open-records violation, combined with her disqualification from the Trump case, adds to what has become a growing series of complications for the Fulton County district attorney. Once heralded by some commentators for taking on one of the nation’s most politically sensitive prosecutions, Willis now faces mounting criticism from state lawmakers, defense attorneys, and segments of the public who argue that her actions have compromised the integrity of the case.

For Trump and the other defendants, the turmoil surrounding Willis may prove advantageous. If Willis’s appeal fails and the disqualification stands, and if the case ultimately collapses or is dismissed, Trump and others could potentially use the new reimbursement law to recoup substantial sums of money. For now, however, the case remains active, pending further decisions from Georgia’s courts.

What is clear is that the future of the prosecution—once seen as a major legal challenge for Trump—has become increasingly uncertain as new controversies continue to unfold around the prosecutor who originally led it.