(WFCN) ATLANTA, GEORGIA — The Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump and others has been put on hold as an appeals court considers the decision made by a lower court judge to permit Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue with the prosecution.
As long as the appeal is pending, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee is unable to proceed with his planned pretrial motions due to the order issued by the Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday. This increases the likelihood—which was already low—that the case will get to trial before the general election in November, when Trump is most likely to be the Republican nominee for president.
The appeals court noted that “if oral argument is requested and granted” on Monday, October 4th is the tentative date for the appeals filed by Trump and eight other parties. The losing party may then file an appeal with the Georgia Supreme Court after the court has until the middle of March to make a decision.
In August, a grand jury in Fulton County accused Trump along with eighteen other people, charging them with involvement in an elaborate plot to attempt to fraudulently rig Georgia’s 2020 presidential election. After striking agreements with the prosecution, four defendants have entered guilty pleas; Trump and the other defendants have entered not guilty pleas. This is one of Trump’s four criminal cases.
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Due to a sexual relationship Willis had with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, Trump and eight other defendants attempted to have Willis and her office removed from the case on the grounds of a conflict of interest.
In March, McAfee determined that there was no conflict of interest that would have required Willis to withdraw from the case. However, he agreed to Trump and the other defendants’ request to appeal the decision to the state Court of Appeals.
There is still “an odor of mendacity,” according to McAfee. As for whether Willis and Wade had given accurate testimony regarding the beginning of their relationship, he ruled that “reasonable questions” about it “further underpin the finding of an appearance of impropriety and the need to make proportionate efforts to cure it.” He stated that Willis could continue working on the case only if Wade resigned, and a few hours later, the special prosecutor handed in his resignation.
Intimate aspects of Willis and Wade’s private lives were revealed in court in mid-February, sparking a turbulent few months in the lawsuit due to the accusations that Willis had unfairly profited from her connection with Wade.
The Court of Appeals was justified in stopping proceedings while it considers an appeal that “argues the case should be dismissed and Fulton County DA Willis should be disqualified for her misconduct,” according to Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead attorney in Georgia.