Former president Trump on Friday appealed a judge’s decision allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue to lead the prosecution in Trump’s Georgia election-interference case.
The action was anticipated as, earlier this month, Fulton County Superior Court judge Scott McAfee granted Trump’s and the other defendants’ request to appeal his ruling to the Georgia Court of Appeals before the trial begins, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“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,” the application read. “This legal error requires the Court’s immediate review.”
McAfee ruled that the defense did not demonstrate that Willis carried a real conflict of interest in the case through her romantic relationship and travels with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired for the case. However, the judge acknowledged that there was a “significant appearance of impropriety that infects the current structure of the prosecution team.” To remedy the perceived compromising of the prosecution, McAfee ordered that Wade withdraw or she and her office leave the case.
Wade resigned on Friday, saying in a letter that he was doing so “in the interest of democracy, in dedication to the American public, and to move this case forward as quickly as possible.”
Trump’s legal team retorted that the judge’s order did not go far enough to restore credibility to the case and should have required Willis’s removal. They argued that Willis had politicized the proceedings, citing her January speech during which she accused defense attorneys of “playing the race card” because both she and Wade are black.
In his ruling, McAfee stated that “an odor of mendacity remains” over the case following revelations of the couple’s conduct. But while McAfee blasted Willis for “making bad choices,” for a “tremendous lapse in judgement,” and for the “unprofessional manner” of her recent defiant witness testimony, he did not order her to step aside from the case.
Last month, the House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena as part of its probe into whether Willis misallocated federal funds by hiring Wade to lead the prosecution of Trump. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan on March 14 threatened to initiate contempt of congress proceedings against embattled Willis if her office does not fully comply with a subpoena.