Georgia Appeals Court Removes DA Willis from Trump Election Interference Case
A Georgia appeals court delivered a significant legal victory to President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday, removing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the state’s election interference case against him and 18 others, The Associated Press reports.
The 2-1 ruling, citing an “appearance of impropriety,” stems from Willis’s romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she hired to lead the case.
The appeals court panel stated that while an appearance of impropriety wouldn’t typically warrant such a removal, this case was exceptional.
Willis’s office immediately announced its intention to appeal the decision to the Georgia Supreme Court. However, the timing is crucial, as prosecuting a sitting president presents immense legal challenges. Trump’s return to the White House further complicates matters, bolstered by a Supreme Court ruling granting him presumptive immunity for official acts.
This development follows the recent dismissal of two federal prosecutions against Trump by special counsel Jack Smith and the indefinite postponement of his New York hush-money case sentencing.
The Atlanta grand jury indicted Trump and the others in August 2023, alleging a wide-ranging scheme to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, including Trump’s infamous call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Four individuals have already pleaded guilty.
Trump celebrated the ruling, stating it “should not be allowed to go any further” and calling for an apology to those involved. His attorney, Steve Sadow, lauded the decision as “well-reasoned and just,” highlighting the “odor of mendacity” created by Willis’s conduct.
The allegations against Willis involved claims of improper financial benefits from her relationship with Wade, including lavish vacations. While both Willis and Wade acknowledged the relationship, they maintained it didn’t begin until after Wade’s November 2021 hiring and ended in summer 2023. They also testified to sharing travel expenses, often with Willis paying or reimbursing Wade in cash.
The appeals court majority opinion criticized the trial court’s remedy – requiring Wade’s resignation – as insufficient to address the appearance of impropriety that existed during Willis’s pre-trial decisions. A dissenting judge argued that the majority overturned decades of precedent by overruling the trial court’s assessment of the situation.
The ruling shifts responsibility to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia to appoint a new prosecutor, a process potentially delayed by the Supreme Court appeal.
