March 20th 2024.
In the ongoing legal battle over the 2020 Georgia election interference, former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants have filed a joint motion to appeal a judge's ruling on the disqualification of District Attorney Fani Willis and her office. The defense team, which includes Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, and others, believes that Judge Scott McAfee's decision to dismiss Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade was not sufficient and is now pushing for the entire office to be disqualified.
Lead defense counsel Steve Sadow has stated that the team finds the actions of the DA's office to be improper and tainted with dishonesty. The motion highlights that while the Court acknowledged the appearance of impropriety, it still chose not to dismiss the case or disqualify Willis. The defense argues that the Court's ruling is flawed, as there is no clear precedent for disqualifying a prosecuting attorney for forensic misconduct in Georgia.
The defense team also takes issue with McAfee's ruling on Willis' speech at Big Bethel AME Church in January 2024, where she defended the hiring of a "Black man." Although the judge did not disqualify her on those grounds, he did call her remarks "legally improper." The defense, however, argues that a criminal defendant is entitled to a "disinterested prosecutor," and points to other cases where review has been granted in similar circumstances.
If the appeal is approved, it will be up to the Court of Appeals to decide whether to hear the case. This move comes after Trump and his co-defendants were indicted in August 2023 following a two-year investigation into allegations of attempting to change the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Trump faces 13 charges, while 18 charges were brought against his allies. However, after four co-defendants accepted plea deals, Willis set a trial date for August 2024.
But things took a turn when Michael Roman, one of Trump's co-defendants, filed a motion to bring attention to Willis and Wade's relationship and to disqualify the DA and her team over allegations of an "improper" relationship. According to CNN, Trump's defense team requested for Willis' team to be disqualified or for the charges to be dismissed due to a potential conflict of interest. Despite this, McAfee chose to keep Willis on the case, and Wade, who testified that his romantic involvement with Willis had ended, resigned immediately.
If Willis' office had been disqualified, the case would have been transferred to Georgia's Prosecuting Attorneys' Council for reassignment, which could potentially derail the racketeering case depending on who took over. This legal battle continues to unfold, with both sides fighting for their version of justice.
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