A Georgia appeals court has said it will review a lower court ruling that allowed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue prosecuting the election interference case against former President Donald Trump.
Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled in March that Willis can remain on the case, but she had to cut ties with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, with whom she had a romantic relationship. Wade was hired to oversee the investigation into Trump and 18 others' alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.
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The ruling by McAfee came after an attorney for co-defendant Michael Roman — a former Trump White House aide — filed a challenge to have Willis removed from the case, alleging there was a conflict of interest because she hired Wade for her own financial benefit. The attorney claimed Willis paid Wade large sums of money for his work, and then Wade used those earnings to pay for luxurious vacations for himself and Willis.
Willis and Wade claimed the personal relationship began after Wade was hired, that the two never lived together, and that the cost of personal trips they took together was split “roughly” equally. But after McAfee ruled that their relationship created the appearance of a conflict of interest, Wade ultimately resigned from the case.
The appeals court decision Wednesday to take up the ruling is likely to cause even further delay in a case that was already unlikely to go to trial before the November presidential election. And regardless of how the court rules, the matter could be appealed again to the Georgia Supreme Court.
