Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was disqualified from the Georgia case that accused President-elect Donald Trump of attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
On Thursday, Willis was removed from the case due to her affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, who has since stepped down. The decision overturned a lower court’s ruling to allow Willis to remain on the case.
‘Did nothing to address the appearance of impropriety.’
“After carefully considering the trial court’s findings in its order, we conclude that it erred by failing to disqualify DA Willis and her office,” the appeals court wrote.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee previously determined that there was an “appearance of impropriety” due to Willis’ affair. McAfee’s decision prompted Wade to resign.
However, the appeals court stated, “The remedy crafted by the trial court to prevent an ongoing appearance of impropriety did nothing to address the appearance of impropriety that existed at times when DA Willis was exercising her broad pretrial discretion about who to prosecute and what charges to bring.”
“While we recognize that an appearance of impropriety generally is not enough to support disqualification, this is the rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings,” it added.
While Willis was removed, the appeals court upheld the indictment against Trump and his co-defendants, allowing the case to proceed in a different county for prosecution.
The court unexpectedly canceled a December 5 pretrial hearing to decide whether to remove Willis from the case. At the time, some speculated this move suggested a decision to remove Willis without an oral hearing, and that speculation has proven accurate.
Trump’s team and the district attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
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