Fulton County District Attorney, Paul L. Howard Jr. (left) and Noah Pines of Ross & Pines. (Courtesy photos)

Attorneys for an Atlanta police officer charged with fatally shooting Rayshard Brooks have moved to recuse Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard and his office from further involvement in the case, claiming that much of what the DA has told the public is "materially false." 

Foremost among the allegedly false statements was Howard's claim at a news conference announcing charges against Atlanta police officers Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan that Rolfe said "I got him" after shooting Brooks, Rolfe's attorneys said in a recusal motion filed Monday. 

"Garrett Rolfe did not say this," the defense lawyers said, citing video of the June 12 shooting. "Paul Howard has simply attributed a statement from a bystander to Mr. Rolfe to heighten public condemnation of Mr. Rolfe."

Rolfe faces charges of felony murder, aggravated assault, criminal damage to property, violating his oath of office and failing to render medical aid. He is currently free on a $500,000 bond.

Brosnan, who is free on a $50,000 signature bond, also faces multiple felony charges, including aggravated assault, violating his oath of office, and failure to render medical aid.

Howard—who has appeared on multiple news shows since the officers' arrests to talk about the case—declined to comment. 

In seeking to remove Howard and his office from the case, defense lawyers Noah Pines and William Thomas also claimed that Howard is unethically using the ongoing prosecution to campaign for reelection. Howard faces an Aug. 11 runoff with veteran prosecutor Fani Willis  after trailing the primary election to Willis, who had just under 41% of the vote to Howard's nearly 34%. 

Included in the motion are tweets Howard posted claiming that Willis' campaign is "heavily funded by police unions" and by Pines, who has made campaign donations to Willis and a third candidate.

Rolfe's attorneys also cited an ongoing criminal investigation of Howard by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. That investigation now includes Howard's issuance of grand jury subpoenas to obtain evidence against Rolfe from the Atlanta Police Department even though grand juries in Fulton County have been suspended since March. The lawyers called the issuance of those subpoenas "unlawful." 

Howard has offered at least three different explanations for why his staff issued subpoenas when no impaneled grand jury was in session.

The lawyers also claim Howard should step down because he is a material witness in the case. They contend the DA "provided contradictory guidance to police officers and the public about whether a Taser is a deadly weapon."

At his news conference announcing multiple felony charges against Rolfe and Brosnan, Howard contended that Brooks "never presented himself as a threat" and that the taser he had wrestled away from Brosnan later fired at Rolfe "presented no danger."

Howard made those statements just 10 days after securing felony charges against six Atlanta police officers based on a sworn statement by member of Howard's staff swore that a taser is a deadly weapon, Rolfe's attorneys argued. 

Rolfe's lawyers signaled that they intend to call Howard to testify about that declaration and whether Rolfe was authorized by law to rely on it when using deadly force.