Former President Trump has requested a state appeals court to review a judge’s ruling that allowed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) to continue her involvement in Trump’s Georgia 2020 election racketeering case.
Earlier this month, Judge Scott McAfee ruled that Willis’s previous romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade gave the impression of a conflict of interest but permitted the district attorney to move forward with her prosecution once Wade resigned.
On Friday, Trump and eight of his co-defendants filed an application with the Georgia Court of Appeals requesting it to take up the case, asserting that Willis has a personal interest in the case and should step aside. This action was expected after McAfee issued a ruling allowing the defense to try to challenge his decision before the trial.
The application states, “While the trial court found that DA Willis’s statements outside of court were inappropriate and the Defendants demonstrated a potential conflict of interest, the trial court made a legal mistake by not mandating dismissal and DA Willis’ disqualification, which necessitates an immediate review by the Court.”
The court’s regulations provide the district attorney’s office with 10 days to respond to the application.
Willis accused Trump and over a dozen of his associates last summer of racketeering and other charges related to allegations that they conspired unlawfully to overturn President Biden’s 2020 victory in Georgia. Trump pleaded not guilty, as he did for his three other criminal indictments.
A trial date for the Georgia case has not been scheduled as Trump tries to delay it beyond the 2024 election. However, the disclosure of the relationship between Willis and Wade caused a lengthy diversion where both testified at a series of hearings to deny any improper conduct.
The prosecutors stated that they began dating in early 2022, but the defense claims the relationship started years earlier — before Willis hired Wade to prosecute Trump.
Two witnesses testified that the couple’s romance began after a 2019 judicial conference they both attended. Willis and Wade said they did meet at the conference but formed a mentor-like relationship, not a romantic one.
Only after the high-profile hearings, McAfee found evidence of a potential conflict of interest, but Trump and his co-defendants argue that the judge’s factual findings demonstrate that the romance is more significant.
The application reads, “If this law holds any weight, the trial court’s actual findings clearly establish a real conflict.”
The defense has also raised concerns about several statements made by Willis outside the courtroom, including the suggestion that their motion to disqualify her and Wade was racially motivated.
Following Willis’s indication during a church speech that the criticism Wade faced was due to him being the only Black special prosecutor she hired, Trump attorney Steve Sadow accused her of trying to “ignite racial animosity” against Trump and his co-defendants to divert attention from her alleged affair.
More recently, Willis told CNN that the “train is coming” for Trump and his co-defendants, drawing more criticism from the defense.
“It seems like Judge McAfee’s warning to Willis in his disqualification order about discussing the case in a public place is just being ignored,” Sadow said. wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Does that surprise anyone??”
In a statement, Sadow asked the Georgia Court of Appeals to approve Trump and his co-defendants’ request after presenting their argument to the trial court that the indictment “should have been dismissed and, at a minimum, DA Willis and her office should have been disqualified from prosecuting the case.”
