Fani Willis’ New Move to Stay on Trump Case

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has motioned to dismiss the appeals petition seeking to remove her office from former President Donald Trump’s election subversion case.

In a court filing to the Georgia Court of Appeals, Willis’ office said that Trump’s appeal lacked “sufficient evidence” to overturn a lower court’s ruling that allowed Willis to remain on the case. Trump and several of his co-defendants, who face racketeering charges accusing them of unlawfully attempting to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results, had sought to remove Willis from the case after it was revealed that she had a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to lead the investigation.

In April, Judge Scott McAfee ruled that Willis could remain on the case as long as Wade resigned, although the judge had choice words for the district attorney’s office over Willis’ actions. Trump and 13 of his co-defendants filed a motion to appeal McAfee’s ruling less than a week later.

Willis’ office argued on Wednesday that any questions on whether her relationship with Wade posed a conflict of interest in Trump’s prosecution were answered during trial court under McAfee. Defendants in the case had argued that Willis financially benefited from her relationship with Wade by using his salary to take vacations together. Wade and Willis testified that they split the costs of any such trip.

“As both this Court and the Supreme Court have repeatedly held, Georgia appellate courts will not disturb a trial court’s factual findings on disputed issues outside of certain, very rare, circumstances,” Willis’ office wrote to the state Court of Appeals.

Prosecutors added later in their filing that “with such due deference afforded to the trial court’s factual findings, there exists no basis for reversal of the order at issue.”

Newsweek reached out to Trump’s lead defense attorney on the case, Steve Sadow, via email Wednesday night for comment on Willis’ motion.

Trump and his co-defendants argued in their appeal of McAfee’s ruling that an appellate review was “prudent” because defendants “believe their arguments are well-founded and fall squarely within the almost absolute First Amendment protections in the context of their core political speech regarding the 2020 Presidential election contest.”

The Georgia Court of Appeals has indefinitely paused all litigation of the election subversion case pending its review of McAfee’s ruling. The decision sparked concern from several legal commentators, given that the stay will likely mean the case will not head to trial before the presidential election in November, in which Trump is seeking reelection.

During an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that aired Wednesday, Wade said that he does not regret his romantic relationship with Willis and pushed back when Collins asked him if he felt that it imperiled the Trump investigation.

“I don’t believe my actions played a role at all,” Wade said. “I believe in the indictment. Certainly I would never have done anything that would have jeopardized that work. I do think the timing of the personal relationship I had was bad.”