A Georgia appeals court has ruled that Fulton County DA Fani Willis should be disqualified from Donald Trump’s election interference case, in a potentially fatal blow to prosecutors.
The court overturned a lower court ruling that allowed her to continue trying the case despite her sensational affair with prosecutor Nathan Wade, after Wade resigned from his position in her office.
It ruled in a 2-1 opinion, saying she was “completely disqualified from this case,” and pointing out “a significant appearance of impropriety.”
The ruling overturns the decision of Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who allowed Willis and her office to remain despite the affair, even as he pointed out the “odor of mendacity” surrounding her case in light of the stunning revelations.
The ruling did not dismiss the case itself, although the decision raised a barrier that legal experts immediately called potentially deadly.
Another team of prosecutors would have to come from another province to bring the case, at a time when other criminal cases against Trump have collapsed after his election as president.
The case featured stunning testimony from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who filed the charges against Trump and co-defendants. A Georgia appeals court ruled that Willis should be excluded from the case
‘It won’t come back. It’s over,” CNN legal commentator Elie Honig said immediately after the news broke.
“The remedy devised by the court to prevent a continued appearance of impropriety did nothing to address the appearance of impropriety that existed at the time when District Attorney Willis exercised her broad discretion over whom to prosecute and what charges she should face,” the court ruled. .
The court called this “the rare instance where disqualification is mandatory and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings.”
Willis’ affair with Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade, a member of her team, helped blow up the case. The Court of Appeal noted a ‘significant appearance of impropriety’
The accusations brought with them Trump’s infamous mugshot
The decision is just the latest legal breakthrough for Trump. In November, special counsel Jack Smith, who brought a similar federal election interference case in Washington, DC, decided to drop that case. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan quickly agreed.
Trump frequently mocked and attacked Willis throughout the case.
It’s the prosecutor who created Trump’s infamous mugshot after he was first indicted — something Trump quickly took advantage of by advertising it on his campaign website.