A Georgia appeals court agreed Wednesday to review a lower court ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to proceed with her election interference case against former President Donald Trump.
The move appears likely to delay the case, and is the second time in as many days that the former president has received a favorable ruling that could push back any legal action until after the November election, when he is expected to be the Republican nominee for Republican nominee. president. A day earlier, the judge overseeing the Florida secret documents case postponed the trial date indefinitely.
Trump and some of the other defendants in Georgia tried to persuade Willis and his office to withdraw the case, saying her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade created a conflict of interest. Supreme Court Justice Scott McAfee ruled in March that there was no conflict of interest that should force Willis out of the case, but he granted the request of Trump and the other defendants to do appeal his decision to the Court of Appeals of Georgia.
On Wednesday, the Intermediate Court of Appeals agreed to hear the case. Once the decision is made, the losing party can ask the Georgia Supreme Court to hear the appeal.
Steve Sadow, Trump's lead lawyer in Georgia, said in an email that the former president was eager to make arguments to the appeals court about why the case should be thrown out and why "Willis should be disqualified for her misconduct in this unwarranted and unwarranted political matter.” ". "Persecution."
A spokesman for Willis declined to comment on the appeals court's decision to take up the case.
McAfee said in his order that he intends to continue processing other pretrial motions "regardless of whether the motion is granted...and even if any subsequent appeal is expedited by the court." 'call". But Trump and others could ask the appeals court to put the case on hold while the appeal is heard.
McAfee wrote in his March order that the prosecution was “burdened with apparent irregularities.” He said Willis couldn't stay on the case unless Wade left, and the special prosecutor tendered his resignation hours later.
Allegations that Willis took unfair advantage of her romantic relationship with Wade led to a tumultuous two months in the case as intimate details of Willis and Wade's personal lives were aired in court in mid-February. Serious charges in one of four criminal cases against the former Republican president have been overshadowed by prosecutors' love lives.
Trump and 18 others were indicted in August for participating in a massive scheme to illegally try to overturn his narrow 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia.
All defendants were charged with violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, an expanded anti-racketeering law. Four people accused in the case pleaded guilty after reaching agreements with the prosecution. Trump and the others have pleaded not guilty.
Trump and other defendants argued in the appeal that McAfee was wrong in not impeaching Willis and Wade, writing that "giving DA Willis the opportunity to impeach Wade simply confuses logic and is inconsistent with Georgia law ".
The allegations against Willis first surfaced in a motion filed in early January by Ashley Merchant, an attorney for former Trump campaign staffer and former White House aide Michael Roman. The motion alleged that Willis and Wade were involved in an inappropriate romantic relationship and that Willis paid Wade large sums of money for his work and then profited by paying for a lavish vacation.
Willis and Wade acknowledged the relationship but said they didn't start dating until spring 2022, after Wade was hired in November 2021, and that their romance ended last summer. They also testified that they split travel expenses about equally, with Willis often paying for expenses or reimbursing Wade in cash.