Trump appeals Georgia judge’s decision allowing Fani Willis to stay on case

Former President Donald Trump and eight co-defendants have formally challenged a Georgia judge’s decision to let Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis remain on the election subversion case despite her romantic relationship with a taxpayer-funded prosecutor.

Mr. Trump’s attorneys say Judge Scott McAfee got some things right in his decision, including a finding that Ms. Willis’ out-of-court comments were improper. Yet the court committed a “plain legal error” by refusing to oust Ms. Willis over her affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, according to the appeal filed Friday to the Court of Appeals for the State of Georgia.

“This legal error requires the court’s immediate review,” the filing said.

Mr. Trump and co-defendants, including former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, say the appeals court should take up the issue so that upcoming trials are not tainted.

“It is neither prudent nor efficient to require the courts, the parties, or taxpayers to run the significant and avoidable risk of having to go through this painful, divisive, and expensive process more than once when an existing structural error can be remedied by this court now,” the filing said.

If the appeal is successful, it would throw the case into disarray. The state would have to decide whether to drop the case or assign a new prosecutor and potentially delay the trial beyond the November presidential election.

Ms. Willis began investigating Mr. Trump three years ago, based on his efforts to pressure Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to dig up enough votes to overturn what the former president called a rigged 2020 electoral victory for President Biden in the state. A grand jury last year indicted Mr. Trump and his associates.

The focus shifted to Ms. Willis after a bombshell motion said her relationship with Mr. Wade created an impermissible financial conflict. The defendant behind the motion, Michael Roman, said the pair enjoyed trips and meals while Mr. Wade received taxpayer money.

Judge McAfee allowed Ms. Willis to remain on the case if Mr. Wade stepped down. He has resigned, but defense attorneys aren’t letting the matter go.

In their appeal, they said Ms. Willis made disqualifying statements in a speech to a majority-Black congregation in which she suggested the complaints about Mr. Wade were based on race. Both Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade are Black.

The appeal alleges Ms. Willis lied to the court about her relationship with Mr. Wade. It also says Judge McAfee erred in offering an offramp for Mr. Wade that is “unprecedented in Georgia law and, more importantly, do nothing to remedy the very improprieties that the trial court actually found.”

“Defendants argued in the trial court that the indictment should have been dismissed and, at a minimum, DA Willis and her office should have been disqualified from prosecuting the case,” Mr. Trump’s attorney Steve Sadow said in a statement. “The Georgia Court of Appeals should grant the application and accept the interlocutory appeal for consideration on the merits.”

The Washington Times contacted Ms. Willis’ office for comment on the appeal.

There is no trial date set for the Georgia charges. A separate criminal trial against Mr. Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, will begin in New York on April 15.