In the ongoing saga of former President Donald Trump's Georgia election interference case, his legal team has confirmed a request for oral arguments, in a bid to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
This development comes as the case against Trump remains on hold, pending a ruling on the defendants' efforts to disqualify Willis from the investigation, as reported by Newsweek.
The Georgia appeals court last Wednesday put an indefinite pause on the case, following its decision in May to consider Trump's appeal to disqualify Willis and attorney Nathan Wade. Wade, who was appointed as a special prosecutor in the Fulton County District Attorney's Office, had a romantic relationship with Willis. Earlier this year, Judge Scott McAfee, presiding over the case in Fulton County, ruled that Willis could stay on Trump's case provided Wade stepped down.
Trump, widely considered the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, along with 18 co-defendants, was indicted by a Georgia grand jury in August. They face criminal racketeering charges for allegedly attempting to overturn the state's electoral results in the 2020 election, which Joe Biden won. Trump and the remaining defendants have all entered pleas of not guilty.
Steve Sadow, Trump's lead Atlanta attorney, confirmed in an emailed statement on Monday that Trump has filed his request for oral arguments in the court of appeals. He expressed belief that these arguments would shed light on why Willis should be disqualified. "President Trump has filed his request for oral argument in the Georgia Court of Appeals, currently calendared for October. We believe oral argument will assist the Court by highlighting and clarifying the reasons why the case should be dismissed and Fulton County DA Willis should be disqualified for her misconduct," Sadow stated.
However, the appeals court must give the green light for the oral arguments to proceed. A tentative October docket date has been set for Trump's appeal of the judge's order declining to disqualify Willis. With this timeline, it is almost certain that the case will not go to trial before the presidential election in November.
Should Willis be removed by the state appeals court, Trump's case would need to be transferred to another Georgia prosecutor. This prosecutor would then have the option to continue the case as is, make changes, or drop the charges altogether. The Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia would be responsible for assigning the case to a new district attorney. However, even if another prosecutor decided to take up the case after Willis, it could be delayed for months.
The decision to halt all court proceedings has raised concerns among several experts, given the upcoming presidential election. Attorney and MSNBC commentator Andrew Weissmann expressed his apprehension on X, formerly Twitter, last week, stating that the appeals order was "another" example of a court working "to stop a duly-voted grand jury indictment of Donald Trump from proceeding."
As the legal battle continues, the question remains: Will the disqualification of Willis lead to a significant delay in the case, or will it pave the way for a new prosecutor to take up the mantle and continue the pursuit of justice? Only time will tell.
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