Trump appeals ruling permitting Fani Willis to continue in Georgia case
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - Former President Donald Trump and his eight co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case have filed an Application for Interlocutory Appeal with the Georgia Court of Appeals.
They are appealing Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee's decision on the motions to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her office because of her romantic relationship with now-former Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade.
The initial motion was filed on Jan. 8 by former White House staffer Michael Roman and his attorney, Ashleigh Merchant. His motion also accused Willis of benefiting financially from hiring Wade.
Timeline: Fulton County DA Fani Willis, Nathan Wade controversy
After Willis made a passionate speech defending her decision to hire a "Black man" for the case at a historic Black church on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, Trump also filed a motion, accusing Willis of playing the race card.
Other motions were also filed.
In early March, McAfee ruled that either Willis or Wade would need to step aside for the case against the former president and the others to proceed. A few hours later, Wade submitted his resignation.
Shortly after, the defense team requested permission from McAfee to appeal his ruling, and it was granted. They are now asking the Court of Appeals to review McAfee's decision.
"At issue here is whether DA Willis and her entire office should have been disqualified from prosecuting this case based upon (1) DA Willis’s inflammatory out-of-court statements regarding Defendants and their counsel and other misconduct ("forensic misconduct") in response to this Motion, and/or (2) her actual or apparent conflict of interest in the case. While the trial court factually found DA Willis’s out-of-court statements were improper and Defendants proved an apparent conflict of interest, the trial court erred as a matter of law by not requiring dismissal and DA Willis’ disqualification. This legal error requires the Court’s immediate review."
According to the filing, even before Roman sought to have Willis disqualified, she was "engaged in a pattern of conduct designed to prejudice Defendants." The motion claims that Willis repeatedly made widely publicized, improper extrajudicial statements during the investigation that violated her heightened ethical obligations as a prosecutor.
The filing also mentions the book about Willis and Trump titled "Find Me The Votes: A Hard-Charging Georgia Prosecutor, a Rogue President, and the Plot to Steal the Election." According to the authors, Willis gave them significant "access and time." The motion claims that Willis knew the book would be published before the trial.
The filing accuses the trial court of punting Willis' "numerous legal and ethical violations" to other forums or sources of authority and then permitted Willis to decide how to "cure" the "significant appearance of impropriety that infects the current structure of the prosecution team" by allowing Wade to resign.
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According to the filing, the trial court was bound by existing case law to not only require Wade's disqualification but also to require the disqualification of Willis and her entire office.
"The trial court's failure to do so is plain legal error requiring reversal."
The Court of Appeals now has 45 days to decide whether it will take up the matter.
Although Judge McAfee is continuing to hear other motions in the case, and Willis has repeatedly said that the case is moving forward, it appears increasingly unlikely that the Georgia case will go to trial before the November election. Willis was initially pushing for a trial date in August 2024.
Trump and 18 supporters were indicted in August 2023 of interfering in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Four of the defendants in the case have already accepted plea deals. Six of the counts were dismissed by Judge McAfee earlier this month.