President-elect Donald Trump filed a motion Friday opposing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s request for the Georgia Supreme Court to review a ruling that disqualified her from prosecuting the 2020 election interference case against him.
The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled in December to remove Willis from the case, citing an “appearance of impropriety” stemming from her past romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she originally hired for the case. Willis has since petitioned the Georgia Supreme Court to intervene.
Trump’s legal team Friday outlined several reasons for Willis’s disqualification, citing a pattern of alleged misconduct and credibility matters in a 29-page filing.
Attorney Steve Sadow highlighted that Willis engaged in “unprofessional” and “potentially untruthful” behavior, particularly regarding her secret relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor originally involved in the case. The filing also noted her failure to maintain “any form of verifiable reconciliation” for cash transactions with Wade and alleged campaign finance violations.
“President Trump has filed a compelling response in opposition to DA Fani Willis’ request that the Georgia Supreme Court review the GA Court of Appeals’ ruling disqualifying Willis,” Sadow told the Washington Examiner in an emailed statement. “The response persuasively argues that discretionary review is legally unwarranted under the particular circumstances of this case.”
Willis previously told Georgia’s top court that no state court has ever disqualified a district attorney based solely on an appearance of impropriety without evidence of an actual conflict of interest or prosecutorial misconduct. She also challenged the appeals court’s decision to substitute its judgment for that of the trial court.
“The opinion managed to overreach both upward and downward, invading the provinces of the trial court and this Court simultaneously,” Willis argued in her petition filed on Jan. 9.
Although Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee initially allowed Willis to stay on the case provided Wade resigned, the appeals court later overturned that decision. Despite her disqualification, the indictment against Trump and 14 co-defendants remains in place, though serious questions remain about whether it will ever head to a trial.
If the Georgia Supreme Court sides with Willis, she could resume prosecuting the 14 other defendants, though it is unlikely she would oversee the case against Trump, who is set to be sworn in for his second term Monday.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The Georgia case is the last criminal case that could plague Trump after two of his federal cases were thrown out following his November election victory and no-punishment sentencing in his New York criminal hush money case.
The Georgia Supreme Court has yet to decide whether to take up Willis’s petition.
