A Georgia judge is expected to decide this week whether to boot Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) and her office from former President Trump’s election interference case because of her romance with a subordinate.
Judge Scott McAfee has said Willis’s relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade “could result” in their disqualification if evidence shows an “actual conflict of interest or the appearance of one.”
Any decision the judge makes could have resounding implications for the historic prosecution, from sharpening already intense scrutiny of Willis to catapulting the case into uncertainty.
Here’s what we know ahead of the judge’s ruling.
How did we get here?
Trump’s Georgia election interference case went on a weeks-long detour after a January motion filed by defendant Michael Roman, a Trump 2020 campaign operative, accused Willis of benefiting financially from her romance with Wade through lavish vacations they took together.
Both prosecutors were called to the witness stand to defend their integrity in fiery hearings where, at times, the drama rivaled any legal soap opera. They confirmed their relationship but said it began in early 2022 — after Wade had been hired to prosecute Trump.
What happens if Willis is disqualified?
If Willis is disqualified, Trump’s case would be handed over to a state entity called the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia. The agency would appoint another Georgia district attorney’s office to take up the prosecution, even though the case would still have a Fulton County judge and jury.
“If he removes her, that’s not going to kill the case, but it’s going to make the case far more difficult,” said Darryl Cohen, a former Fulton County assistant district attorney. “Because that will mean, in all likelihood, that the Fulton County DA’s office will not prosecute it, and that leaves … only a few…
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