Georgia appeals court grants Trump’s request to consider disqualification of Fani Willis from criminal case

The Georgia state appeals court said Wednesday it will consider an appeal by former President Donald Trump challenging the decision not to disqualify Fani Willis as district attorney overseeing interference charges 2020 election brought against him.

The order says Trump can file a notice of appeal within the next 10 days.

Trump’s lawyer, Steve Sadow, said in a statement that the former president “looks forward” to arguing before the appeals court that the case should be thrown out and that Willis will be disqualified “for his misconduct in this unjustified and unjustified political persecution.”

The prosecutor’s office declined to comment.

The judge presiding over the case, Scott McAfee, ruled in mid-March that Willis should not be disqualified from prosecuting Trump and his co-defendants despite their allegations that she had a conflict of interest in the case. They accused Willis of misconduct, alleging she benefited financially from her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, leading to days of court testimony about their romance.

McAfee ultimately decided that the “appearance of impropriety” created by their personal relationship should lead Willis or Wade to leave the case. Hours later, Willis’ office confirmed that Wade had resigned and that she had accepted his resignation.

Days later, McAfee granted a certificate of immediate review, giving Trump and eight of his co-defendants permission to appeal his decision to keep Willis in the case. That gave the appeals court 45 days to decide whether or not to hear an appeal on the case. Lawyers for Trump and the other defendants then asked the appeals court to allow them to challenge the decision.

The appeals court ruling Wednesday comes as Trump continues to stand trial in the criminal case he faces in New York. It is the only one of the four criminal cases brought against him to have gone to trial.

No trial date has yet been set for the Georgia election interference case.

CORRECTION (May 8, 2024, 2:05 p.m. ET): Due to an editing error, a previous version of this article incorrectly stated the year of the election under investigation. It was 2020, not 2016.