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Trump case: Judge rules either Fani Willis or Nathan Wade must step aside
On Friday, Judge Scott McAfee denied the motion to remove Willis on the condition that Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade must withdraw from the case
A Georgia judge has ruled that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis can stay on Donald Trump's election. But there's a catch. Issuing the long-awaited verdict, Judge Scott McAfee denied the motion to remove Willis on the condition that Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade must withdraw from the case. McAfee said on Friday that either Willis let another district attorney take over the case, or her boyfriend step down.
Either Fani Willis or Nathan Wade will stay on Trump election case
The Fulton County Superior Court Judge said that Willis' relationship with Wade did not cause a “conflict of interest.” However, McAfee said that their romance created an “appearance of impropriety” that infected the prosecution team, per AP.
As the verdict was announced, the judge wrote, “As the case moves forward, reasonable members of the public could easily be left to wonder whether the financial exchanges have continued resulting in some form of benefit to the District Attorney, or even whether the romantic relationship has resumed.”
Wade and Willis admitted their romantic relationship at a hearing last month but denied that the district attorney improperly benefitted from it. The Georgia court judge explained that there was insufficient evidence that indicated that same.
“Put differently, an outsider could reasonably think that the District Attorney is not exercising her independent professional judgment totally free of any compromising influences. As long as Wade remains on the case, this unnecessary perception will persist,” McAfee continued.
McAfee further wrote that the findings are “by no means an indication that the Court condones this tremendous lapse in judgement or the unprofessional manner of the District Attorney’s testimony during the evidentiary hearing.”
“Georgia law does not permit the finding of an actual conflict for simply making bad choices -- even repeatedly -- and it is the trial court’s duty to confine itself to the relevant issues and applicable law properly brought before it,” the judge added, per the outlet.
