Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis faces the possibility of being disqualified from her case prosecuting former President Donald Trump and his allies for trying to overturn the 2020 election due to her romantic relationship with prosecutor Nathan Wade—which could substantially draw out the case, as a new prosecutor would then have to be appointed.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testifies during a hearing on February 15 in Atlanta, ... [+]
A hearing is taking place in Fulton County court this week over whether Willis should be disqualified from the case, as defendants—including Trump—have urged the court to do, claiming Willis and Wade’s relationship constitutes a conflict of interest.
If Judge Scott McAfee does remove Willis from the case, Georgia state law states it would then be up to the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of the State of Georgia to determine a replacement.
The director, Pete Skandalakis, told CNN he would likely only assign the case to a prosecutor who actually wanted to take it up, though he also told the New York Times he could appoint someone—or even take up the case himself—if no one volunteered.
The complexity of the 15-defendant case means “you have to find somebody with the resources and experience that is capable of handling this type of case,” Skandalakis told CNN, which narrows the options, though the Times notes Democratic-appointed prosecutors in Georgia’s DeKalb or Cobb counties would likely be best equipped to take up the case.
Once a new prosecutor takes up the case, they can move forward however they want—including by even dropping charges altogether or adding new ones, the Times notes.
It could take a while for a new prosecutor to be appointed: Skandalakis was tasked in July 2022 with finding a new prosecutor to investigate one Trump ally after Willis was barred from prosecuting him due to a conflict of interest, and a prosecutor has still not yet been appointed.
A hearing over Willis’ potential disqualification that began Thursday is expected to continue Friday, at which the DA will continue testifying after first taking the stand Thursday afternoon. Judge Scott McAfee said while the hearing is likely to wrap up on Friday, it could stretch into next week. It’s unclear when the judge will issue a ruling.
Whether Willis will be removed from the case, though legal experts suggested Thursday they don’t see a strong basis for doing so. “As it stood today, it’s hard to see any basis for disqualifying Willis unless the Judge wants to bend over backwards out of an abundance of caution,” former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance wrote. That being said, contentious testimony at the hearing Thursday—notably Willis’ former friend testifying that the prosecutor’s relationship with Wade began years before Willis attested it did—could still affect the case. “Even if the judge finds there has been no conflict of interest or even the appearance of a conflict, as a matter of public perception, this hearing has been damaging,” former federal prosecutor Caren Morrison told the Times.
Willis indicted Trump and his allies in August following a years-long investigation, accusing them of a wide-ranging racketeering conspiracy trying to overturn the 2020 election results. The DA appointed Wade—a private attorney who was not already part of the DA’s office—to serve as a special prosecutor in the case in 2021. Defendant Michael Roman first accused Willis in January of having a conflict of interest due to her relationship with Wade, with numerous other defendants in the case—including Trump and ex-attorney Rudy Giuliani—soon joining on to Roman’s motion to have Willis disqualified. The defendants claim Willis and Wade’s “improper, clandestine personal relationship” while the case was pending posed a conflict of interest, arguing Willis appointed Wade because of their romantic relationship. Defendants also took issue with the vacations the two took together, accusing Wade of funding the couple’s trips using taxpayer funds Willis paid him. Willis and Wade have strongly denied any wrongdoing, insisting their romantic relationship began in 2022, after Wade was appointed in the case, and that they roughly divided all their costs equally. Wade and Willis both took the stand during the hearing on Thursday, where the district attorney accused defense counsel of telling “lies” about her and said their accusations were “contrary to democracy.”
Fani Willis Admits To Romantic Relationship But Chides 'Offensive' 'Lies' About Timeline (Forbes)
Witness Says Fulton County DA Fani Willis, Prosecutor Nathan Wade Lied About Relationship Timeline (Forbes)
What Happens if Fani Willis Is Disqualified From the Trump Case? (New York Times)
Georgia Trump prosecutor Fani Willis misconduct hearing: What to watch (CNN)