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Fulton County Court Holds Hearings Ahead Of Trump Georgia Election Case

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Fulton County GA District Attorney Fani Willis

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State of Georgia v. Donald J. Trump, in Atlanta, USA - 15 Feb 2024

State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump, in Atlanta

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ATLANTA — Former president <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/donald-trump/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2" target=_blank>Donald Trump</a> and several of his allies charged in the Georgia election interference case asked a state appeals court to overturn a judge’s ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) to remain on the case.

In a 51-page motion filed Friday before the Georgia Court of Appeals, Trump and eight co-defendants argued that Willis and her office should be disqualified from the prosecution over allegations that she engaged in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/16/fani-willis-misconduct-accusations-ashleigh-merchant/" target=_blank>an improper relationship</a> with an outside attorney she appointed to lead the case.

The filing asks the court to reverse a decision by Fulton County Superior Court <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/12/judge-scott-mcafee-trump-georgia-case-fani-willis/" target=_blank>Judge Scott McAfee</a>, who said in a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/15/fani-willis-trump-georgia-case/" target=_blank>March 15 order</a> that Trump and the others had “failed to meet their burden” of proving that Willis’s romantic relationship with <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/01/14/nathan-wade-fani-willis-georgia-trump/" target=_blank>special prosecutor Nathan Wade</a> and allegations that she was financially enriched by trips the two took together were enough of a “conflict of interest” to disqualify her from the case.

But McAfee did find a “significant appearance of impropriety” and ruled that either Willis and her office or Wade had to leave the case. Wade resigned later that day.

Attorneys for Trump and his co-defendants argued in their Friday filing that Wade’s departure was not enough to resolve the “appearance of impropriety” that has “cast a pall over these entire proceedings.”

“The trial court was bound by existing case law to not only require Wade’s disqualification (which occurred) but also to require the disqualification of DA Willis and her entire office,” the filing states. “The trial court’s failure to do so is plain legal error requiring reversal.”

The defendants pressed the appellate court to act on their request for review ahead of any trial — calling McAfee’s decision to keep Willis on the case an “erroneous failure” and “structural error that would not just cause substantial error at trial” but could later cause a verdict to be overturned.

“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 states.

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Trump and others had also argued that Willis should be disqualified because of comments she made in a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/01/14/fani-willis-georgia-trump/" target=_blank>Jan. 14 speech at a historic Black church in Atlanta</a> where she suggested that the criticism of her and Wade was prompted by racism.

McAfee, in his ruling, was critical of Willis’s speech, calling it “legally improper.” But he also said there wasn’t enough legal precedent in Georgia to determine whether Willis could be disqualified over those remarks — prompting Trump and the others to ask the appeals court to determine that very issue.

“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,” the filing states.

A spokesman for Willis declined to comment.

Trump and 18 others were <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/14/trump-indictment-georgia-election-2020/" target=_blank>indicted in August</a> and charged with illegally conspiring to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia. Four defendants reached plea deals in the case in the fall.

Nine of the remaining 15 defendants sought to remove Willis and have sought to appeal McAfee’s ruling. That includes Trump, former New York mayor <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/23/rudy-giuliani-georgia-jail-surrender/" target=_blank>Rudy Giuliani</a>, former White House chief of staff <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/02/28/mark-meadows-georgia-election-interference-appeal/" target=_blank>Mark Meadows</a>, former Justice Department official <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/03/jeffrey-clark-trump-coconspirator-doj-indictment/" target=_blank>Jeffrey Clark</a>, former Trump campaign aides <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/02/02/mike-roman-trump-georgia-election-case-fani-willis/" target=_blank>Mike Roman</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/11/11/trump-georgia-ruby-freeman-harrison-floyd-trevian-kutti-stephen-lee/" target=_blank>Harrison Floyd</a>, former Trump campaign attorney Robert Cheeley, former Georgia Republican Party chair <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/06/12/georgia-republicans-trump-david-shafer/" target=_blank>David Shafer</a>, and Trump Georgia elector Cathleen Latham.

The motion comes a little over a week<b> </b>after the group <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/18/trump-appeal-fani-willis-georgia/" target=_blank>asked McAfee</a> for a “certificate of immediate review,” allowing them to appeal his decision ahead of trial. McAfee <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/20/fulton-election-case-fani-willis-appeal/" target=_blank>granted</a> that review two days later.

The Georgia Court of Appeals has 45 days to determine whether it will take the case. If the appellate court declines, Trump and his eight co-defendants could ask the Georgia Supreme Court to hear it.

But McAfee indicated in his order granting the certificate of review last week that he will not pause the proceedings as the appeal plays out.

“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,” McAfee wrote.

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Holly Bailey is a national correspondent for The Washington Post based in Atlanta and covering the South. She was previously based in Minneapolis, where she covered the Upper Midwest. She joined The Post in 2019 as a national political reporter covering the 2020 presidential campaign.

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