In a recent development, an appellate court in Georgia has set a date for a hearing on former President Donald Trump's renewed effort to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting a comprehensive election interference case against him and his associates.
The hearing is scheduled for October 4, a little over a month before the presidential election.
The case is being overseen by a judge who, after extensive court hearings in March, has permitted Willis to continue her role despite allegations of financial impropriety linked to her hiring of a special prosecutor with whom she had a previous romantic relationship. Trump and his co-defendants appealed this decision, leading to the upcoming hearing.
The appeal will be heard by Judges Trent Brown, Todd Markle, and Benjamin Land, although they may opt not to hold oral arguments and instead make a ruling based on the briefs submitted to the court, which are due later this month.
Despite the appeal, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has not halted pretrial proceedings in the original case. However, the case will not proceed to trial until the appeal is resolved, making it unlikely that a verdict will be reached before the next election.
Willis and the now-former special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, have admitted to their past relationship but maintain that it began after Wade's appointment, that they shared expenses, and that the relationship ended before any indictment was made. Judge McAfee's ruling presented Willis with a choice: either she could recuse herself and her entire office from the case, or Wade could step down. Wade chose to resign shortly after this decision.
The case against Trump and five of his co-defendants revolves around an alleged scheme to pressure state officials into violating their oaths of office and overturning Georgia's election results, thereby reversing Trump's 2020 presidential election loss in the state. The defendants are accused of implementing a "fake elector" strategy, intimidating election workers, seizing voting machines, and urging the state's top election official to "find" the votes needed for a Trump victory. All defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Four of Trump's original co-defendants in the Fulton County case, including attorneys Kenneth Chesebro, Jenna Ellis, and Sidney Powell, pleaded guilty last year after reaching plea agreements with the prosecution.
The date for the appeals court hearing was first reported by The Atlanta-Journal Constitution. Trump's attorney, Steve Sadow, stated, "We look forward to presenting argument before [the panel] on why this case should be dismissed and Fulton County DA Willis should be disqualified for the trial courts acknowledged odor of mendacity misconduct in violation of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct."
The scheduling of the hearing represents a legal victory for the former president, who, following a conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in New York on May 30, is unlikely to face another trial before Election Day. A decision from the US Supreme Court on whether he has "immunity" from charges in his federal election interference case could be imminent, but that case is also unlikely to go to trial before Election Day.
In another case involving Trump, concerning the retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago compound, the Trump-appointed federal judge presiding over the case has indefinitely postponed the trial after vacating an initial May trial date.
Login