A noted legal analyst, former federal prosecutor, and Justice Department official wrote in an op-ed on Friday he believes Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ case against Donald Trump is now permanently “tainted” so that it could be advantageous for the former president and Republicans in Georgia.

Writing in the L.A. Times, attorney Harry Litman suggested that Willis’s prosecution of Trump is still “tainted,” even though the special prosecutor she hired, Nathan Wade, has since resigned and left the case.

Willis has been heading up the investigation that led to a criminal indictment against Trump for his alleged efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election in the state. Trump, along with several other co-defendants, is facing charges of racketeering in the case, all of which he pleaded not guilty to during his arraignment hearing.

Litman, who has served as a U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania and deputy assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice (DOJ), noted in his column that “it would be a mistake to assume that Wade’s withdrawal puts an end to the ugliness and doubt surrounding Willis’ handling of the case” and that “prosecution revolving around an infamous Trump sound bite…is now tainted by an ‘odor of mendacity.’”

“But the order, and the circus-like atmosphere of the multiday evidentiary hearing that preceded it, in some ways served only to intensify the controversy surrounding the case and ensure that the rhetorical challenges will continue,” he wrote.

“Notwithstanding the decorous and professional language of McAfee’s order, it lands several haymakers on Willis’ judgment and probity. Probably the most notorious and enduring is his assertion that ‘an odor of mendacity remain’ around the testimony of Willis and Wade, specifically as to the timing of their relationship. It’s a phrase that could have a continuing political impact in Georgia and nationally,” he continued.

He went on to say that the ruling by McAfee will serve as political ammunition for Trump and other Republicans after they lost the state to Joe Biden by a razor-thin margin in 2020.