Fani Willis, District Attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, photographed September 20, 2022, and former President Donald Trump, photographed August 8, 2023.
Scott Iron | Getty Images
A Georgia appeals court agreed Wednesday to hear a request by Donald Trump to expel Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the former president’s criminal election interference case.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee declined to remove Willis from the criminal case in March after it was revealed she was having a romantic relationship with a member of her legal team.
The case accuses Trump of illegally trying to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 election in Georgia. There is currently no trial date set for the case.
Trump attorney Steve Sadow said in a statement that the former president looks forward to telling the appeals court “why the case should be dismissed and Fulton County Prosecutor Willis should be disqualified for his misconduct in this unwarranted, unwarranted political prosecution.” “.
The Georgia appeals court’s decision to uphold Trump’s bid to disqualify his prosecutor is the latest setback for Willis’ high-profile case against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
Special prosecutor Nathan Wade resigned from the prosecution in mid-March after McAfee decided that either he or the prosecutor must recuse themselves. That ruling came a month after a hearing on whether Willis should be disqualified for having a relationship with Wade during the investigation into the case.
Both Willis and Wade testified at the hearing that they did not become romantically involved until Wade was appointed to the team to impeach Trump.
Two days before McAfee issued that ultimatum, he dismissed six counts in the case — including three against Trump — after ruling that they were not sufficiently substantiated in the indictment. Trump still faces 10 counts in the Willis case.
A spokesman for the DA’s office declined NBC News’ request for comment on the appeals court’s order on Wednesday. This order grants Trump’s request to appeal McAfee’s disqualification decision while Willis’ case is pending. The appeals court gave Trump ten days to file the appeal.
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2024-05-08 15:17:28
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