President-elect Donald Trump has filed a response against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' request to the Georgia Supreme Court to review the state's Court of Appeals' decision disqualifying Willis from his 2020 election interference case. The Court of Appeals disqualified Willis in December due to an 'appearance of impropriety' stemming from her previous romantic relationship with a special prosecutor involved in the case. Willis has appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court, arguing that her disqualification was based solely on an appearance of impropriety and not an actual conflict of interest.
President-elect Donald Trump has filed a response opposing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis ' request for the Georgia Supreme Court to review the state's Court of Appeals' decision disqualifying Willis from Trump's 2020 election interference case. The Georgia Court of Appeals disqualified Willis in December from prosecuting the RICO case against Trump and his 14 co-defendants. Willis is now asking the Georgia Supreme Court to overturn the lower court's decision.
Last week, Willis petitioned Georgia's highest court to reverse her disqualification from the case. Trump and some of his co-defendants sought to remove Willis and her office from the case and dismiss it entirely, arguing, in part, that her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor initially assigned to the case, Nathan Wade, created a conflict of interest. Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, overseeing the case, ruled in March that there was no conflict of interest requiring Willis' removal. However, he stated that Wade would need to step down for Willis to remain on the case, leading to the special prosecutor's resignation. Trump and the others subsequently appealed McAfee's ruling. The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled on December 19 that Willis and her office could not continue prosecuting the case due to an 'appearance of impropriety' stemming from Willis' relationship with Wade. Willis asked the Georgia Supreme Court to intervene last week. In her petition, she asked the high court to consider if the appeals court was wrong to disqualify her 'based solely upon an appearance of impropriety and absent a finding of an actual conflict of interest or forensic misconduct.' She also requested the high court determine if the lower court erred 'in substituting the trial court's discretion with its own.' Steve Sadow, Lead Counsel for President Trump in the Fulton County GA case, stated via email to Newsweek: '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. The response persuasively argues that discretionary review is legally unwarranted under the particular circumstances of this case.' Willis stated in her filing last week: 'No Georgia court has ever disqualified a district attorney for the mere appearance of impropriety without the existence of an actual conflict of interest. And no Georgia court has ever reversed a trial court's order declining to disqualify a prosecutor based solely on an appearance of impropriety.' Norm Eisen, a CNN legal analyst who served as counsel to the Democrats during Trump's first impeachment, said in a statement obtained by Newsweek on December 19: 'The disqualification of Fani Willis is entirely unfounded, but there is a silver lining: the indictment against Trump still stands. It should be pursued vigorously.' If the Georgia Supreme Court rules in favor of Willis, the case will be returned to her, though it's unlikely she will be able to prosecute Trump as he will be sworn in for his second presidential term on Monday. However, she could continue prosecuting the 14 other defendants in the Georgia 2020 election interference case.
Donald Trump Fani Willis Georgia Election Interference RICO Case Court Of Appeals Georgia Supreme Court Appearance Of Impropriety Conflict Of Interest
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