A Georgia appeals court has removed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s office from prosecuting the 2020 election interference case involving President-elect Donald Trump, citing her relationship with Nathan Wade, a top prosecutor on the case. The court described their relationship as creating a “significant appearance of impropriety.”
While the court did not dismiss Trump’s indictment outright, the decision raises further uncertainty about the future of the case, especially with Trump’s potential return to the White House looming. The ruling deepens the legal complexity surrounding the prosecution.
Judge E. Trenton Brown III, writing for the majority, concluded that the trial court had erred in allowing Willis’s office to continue the case. “After carefully considering the trial court’s findings, we conclude that it failed to disqualify DA Willis and her office,” the ruling stated. “The remedy crafted by the trial court to prevent an ongoing appearance of impropriety did nothing to address the appearance of impropriety when DA Willis exercised her broad pretrial discretion regarding whom to prosecute and what charges to bring.”
The ruling leaves open the possibility that a different prosecutor could take over the case, but the path forward remains uncertain. Trump’s legal team has already sought to dismiss all his criminal cases, arguing that as president-elect, he is immune from prosecution.
“As the Court rightly noted, only disqualification will restore public confidence,” Trump attorney Steve Sadow said in a statement. “This decision ends the politically motivated persecution of the next President of the United States.”
Willis’s office has not yet commented on the decision. Ashleigh Merchant, a defense attorney representing one of Trump’s co-defendants, expressed relief that the court had agreed Willis should be disqualified from continuing the case.
The case stems from charges filed last summer by Willis, accusing Trump and over a dozen of his associates of participating in an unlawful conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. The controversy surrounding Willis’s relationship with Wade—whom she had hired to lead the Trump prosecution—led to months of legal back-and-forth.
After a February hearing where both Willis and Wade testified, Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the trial, concluded that their relationship created the appearance of a conflict of interest. McAfee allowed the prosecution to proceed if Wade stepped aside, which he did.
However, Trump’s legal team filed an appeal with the Georgia Court of Appeals, arguing that the relationship was a disqualifying conflict. While the appeals court agreed there was no actual conflict of interest, it ruled that the appearance of impropriety was serious enough to warrant disqualification.
“While we recognize that an appearance of impropriety is generally not enough to support disqualification, this is the rare case where disqualification is mandated,” the court stated. “No other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings.”
Judge Ben Land dissented, suggesting the appeals court should defer to the trial judge’s findings and allow the case to proceed. “Where, as here, a prosecutor has no actual conflict of interest and the trial court rejects the allegations of impropriety, we have no authority to reverse the trial court’s denial of a motion to disqualify,” Land wrote.
Willis may still appeal the decision to the Georgia Supreme Court. If the ruling stands, the case would be handed over to the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia, which would take over the prosecution.
This move follows a similar disqualification in another high-profile case, when Willis’s office was removed from prosecuting Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones after she raised funds for his political opponent. In that instance, the Prosecuting Attorneys Council declined to bring charges after reviewing the case.
