On Thursday, the Georgia Court of Appeals decided to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from pursuing her election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump, citing a “conflict of interest” that might jeopardize the fairness of the trials for Trump and his co-defendants. Judge E. Trenton Brown wrote, “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 decision overturned a previous ruling that allowed Willis to proceed, provided her romantic partner, Nathan Wade, resigned due to nepotism allegations.
The court acknowledged that the appearance of impropriety warranted disqualification, although it did not dismiss the indictment against Trump.
It remains uncertain how the case will progress without Willis, and the process of appointing a special counsel could be delayed by the Republican-controlled state government.
Brown said, “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.”
Brown added, “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.”
