Georgia Judge Scott McAfee is allowing Donald Trump and his election interference co-defendants to appeal an order denying the disqualification of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case.
In a Wednesday certificate of immediate review, McAfee found that the defendants’ order asking to review his decision to keep Willis on the racketeering case “is of such importance to the case that immediate review should be had.”
Last week, McAfee ruled that while Willis’ romantic relationship with then-special prosecutor Nathan Wade had the “significant appearance of impropriety,” it could be resolved if one of them stepped aside from the case. Wade resigned hours later, allowing Willis to continue leading the team prosecuting Trump and others for allegedly trying to upend the Georgia 2020 election results.
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“The challenged order is not one of final judgment, and the State has informed the Court that it has complied with the order’s demands,” McAfee wrote Wednesday.
He added that the court “intends to continue addressing the many other unrelated pending pretrial motions, regardless of whether the petition is granted within 45 days of filing, and even if any subsequent appeal is expedited by the appellate court.”
The Georgia Court of Appeals could still decline to hear the case. If that happens, defense lawyers could ask the state Supreme Court to hear the appeal. The criminal case against Trump and his co-defendants will continue as this process happens, though no trial date has been set.
“The defense is optimistic that appellate review will lead to the case being dismissed and the DA being disqualified,” Steve Sadow, who is representing Trump in Georgia, said in a statement to The Daily Beast.
In a Monday motion, eight defendants in the election fraud case—considered to be the strongest against Trump—had asked McAfee to allow a review of his ruling on Willis.
“In its order, the Court found that District Attorney Willis’ actions had created an appearance of impropriety and an ‘odor of mendacity’ that lingers in this case, as well as the continuing possibility that ‘an outsider could reasonably think that District Attorney Willis is not exercising her independent professional judgment totally free of any compromising influences,’” the Monday motion states. It added that a review is “both prudent and warranted” because there is a “lack of guidance from the appellate courts on key issues.”
In McAfee’s ruling, he did not hold back his opinion that the relationship between Wade and Willis was improper enough to demand some structural changes in the prosecution team. But he also denied the defense’s January motion request to remove Willis because she misused her power and personally benefited from hiring Wade as a special prosecutor, stating that there’s no evidence of an “actual conflict of interest” brought on by the relationship
“This finding is by no means an indication that the Court condones this tremendous lapse in judgment or the unprofessional manner of the District Attorney’s testimony during the evidentiary hearing,” the judge wrote in his Friday ruling. “Rather, it is the undersigned’s opinion that Georgia law does not permit the finding of an actual conflict for simply making bad choices—even repeatedly—and it is the trial court’s duty to confine itself to the relevant issues and applicable law properly brought before it.”
Wade and Willis confirmed during an evidentiary hearing last month that they had a relationship from early 2022 until last summer. The two denied any wrongdoing and pushed back on claims that their affair was funded solely by Wade.
