The 2020 election interference against former President Donald Trump and his allies has been halted by a Georgia appellate court.
Court Pauses Georgia Election Case Against Trump, Likely Until After The 2024 Election https://t.co/b2pUrIF4hw pic.twitter.com/nFXWrlwFSJ
— Daily Wire News (@DailyWireNews) June 5, 2024
A brief order released by the Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia on Wednesday stayed the “underlying proceedings” on the appeal of a ruling that allowed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to stay on the case after Trump and some co-defendants argued that he should be disqualified from the case.
The defendants had argued that the romantic relationship, which included trips and gift, “created an appearance of impropriety in this case that cast a pall over these entire proceedings.”
While defendants pointed to a conflict of interest following the revelation of a romance between Willis and her special prosecutor in the case, Nathan Wade, Judge Scott McAfee decided to let her stay in the case as long as Wade resigned.
According to McAfee, the defendants did not prove that the romantic relationship between Willis and Wade posed a conflict of interest in the case. He, however, raised concerns about the “appearance of impropriety” and requested that either Willis or Wade step down from the case.
After McAfee’s decision, Trump and his co-defendants took the case to appeal, arguing that Willis should be disqualified from the case, which should be dismissed entirely.
Attorneys requested an immediate review of the case as they believed the trial court “erred as a matter of law by not requiring dismissal and DA Willis’ disqualification.”
“To avoid structural error that would invalidate and require a repeat of the upcoming trials, to establish needed precedent in the area of disqualifying forensic misconduct, and to protect and maintain the public’s confidence in the integrity of the criminal justice system, this Court should grant the Application,” they wrote in their appeal filing.
Willis, in April, filed a motion to the Georgia Court of Appeals, asking for McAfee’s ruling to be upheld.
In her request to the higher court, she wrote, “Setting aside whether Wade’s removal from the case was, in fact, necessary, he withdrew from representation hours after the trial court issued its order, and the District Attorney accepted the resignation. Accordingly, the trial court properly exercised its discretion and inherent authority in denying the motion to disqualify based on the appearance of impropriety, and there is no basis to grant interlocutory review on this ground.”