Former President Donald Trump and other defendants accused of illegally trying to interfere in the 2020 election in Georgia on Friday submitted a formal application to appeal a judge’s ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to remain on the case.
Quick Read
- Appeal Filed: Former President Donald Trump and other defendants have filed an appeal against a judge’s decision to keep Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on the Georgia 2020 election interference case.
- Conflict of Interest Claim: The appeal stems from claims of a conflict of interest due to Willis’s relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, which the defendants argue should disqualify her from the case.
- Judge’s Ruling: Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled that there wasn’t a significant conflict of interest to warrant Willis’s removal but acknowledged the “appearance of impropriety.”
- Prosecution Continuation: Following McAfee’s ruling, special prosecutor Wade resigned, allowing Willis to continue her prosecution efforts.
- Next Steps: The Georgia Court of Appeals has 45 days to decide on taking up the matter, following the defendants’ formal application to appeal.
- Background Context: The controversy around Willis’s relationship with Wade briefly overshadowed the core allegations against Trump and 18 others regarding attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
- Legal Strategy: Willis employed Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law to indict Trump and co-defendants on charges related to election interference.
- Case Progress: To date, four individuals have pleaded guilty in connection to the case, while Trump and the remaining defendants have entered pleas of not guilty.
The Associated Press has the story:
Trump appeals ruling allowing DA Fani Willis to remain on GA election case
Newslooks- ATLANTA (AP) —
Former President Donald Trump and other defendants accused of illegally trying to interfere in the 2020 election in Georgia on Friday submitted a formal application to appeal a judge’s ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to remain on the case.
Trump and other defendants had tried to get Willis and her office tossed off the case, saying her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade created a conflict of interest. Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee earlier this month found that there was not a conflict of interest that should force Willis off the case but said that the prosecution was “encumbered by an appearance of impropriety.”
McAfee’s ruling said Willis could continue her prosecution if Wade left the case, and the special prosecutor resigned hours later. Lawyers for Trump and other defendants then asked McAfee to allow them to appeal his ruling to the Georgia Court of Appeals, and he granted that request.
The filing of an application with the appeals court is the next step in that process. The Court of Appeals now has 45 days to decide whether it will take up the matter.
The allegations that Willis had improperly benefited from her romance with Wade upended the case for weeks. Intimate details of Willis and Wade’s personal lives were aired in court in mid-February, overshadowing the serious allegations in one of four criminal cases against the Republican former president. Trump and 18 others were indicted in August, accused of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally try to overturn his narrow 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia.
Willis used Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, law, an expansive anti-racketeering statute, to charge Trump and the 18 others. Four people charged in the case have pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors. Trump and the others have pleaded not guilty.
