Georgia appeals court cancels hearing in election interference case
against Trump
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[November 19, 2024]
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia appeals court on Monday canceled oral
arguments that were scheduled for next month on the appeal of a lower
court ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to
continue to prosecute the election interference case she brought against
President-elect Donald Trump.
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Fani Willis, District Attorney of Fulton County speaks to the Associated
Press on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) |
Trump and other defendants had asked the Georgia Court of
Appeals to hold oral arguments in the case, and the court had
set those arguments for Dec. 5. But in a one-line order with no
further explanation, the appeals court said that hearing “is
hereby canceled until further order of this Court.”
A Fulton County grand jury in August 2023 indicted Trump and 18
others, accusing them of participating in a sprawling scheme to
illegally try to overturn the 2020 presidential election in
Georgia. Four defendants have pleaded guilty after reaching
deals with prosecutors, but Trump and the others have pleaded
not guilty.
But with Trump set to return to the White House in January, the
future of the case against the once and future president was
already in question even if the Court of Appeals ultimately says
Willis shouldn't be disqualified.
Trump and other defendants filed the appeal seeking to get
Willis and her office removed from the case and to have the case
dismissed. They argue that a romantic relationship Willis had
with special prosecutor Nathan Wade created a conflict of
interest. Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee in March found that
no conflict of interest existed that should force Willis off the
case, but he granted a request from Trump and the other
defendants to seek an appeal of his ruling from the Court of
Appeals.
McAfee wrote that “reasonable questions” over whether Willis and
Wade had testified truthfully about the timing of their
relationship “further underpin the finding of an appearance of
impropriety and the need to make proportional efforts to cure
it.” He allowed Willis to remain on the case only if Wade left,
and the special prosecutor submitted his resignation hours
later.
The allegations that Willis had improperly benefited from her
romance with Wade resulted in a tumultuous couple of months in
the case as intimate details of Willis and Wade’s personal lives
were aired in court in mid-February.
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