Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked the court to toss Donald Trump’s application to appeal a ruling that allowed her to stay on the former president’s election subversion case in Georgia.
Judge Scott McAfee last month ruled Willis could continue as lead prosecutor after questions swirled over Willis’ personal relationship with Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade, an outside attorney hired by Willis to assist with the Trump investigation. The case moved forward with Willis after Wade resigned. Trump’s legal team, however, has continued to accuse Willis of misconduct.
Trump’s attorneys filed an application at the end of March to appeal McAfee’s decision, arguing that “the trial court erred as a matter of law by not requiring dismissal and DA Willis’ disqualification.” For the appeal to move forward, the Georgia Court of Appeals will have to agree to take up the case. Willis’ office also had 10 days to respond to the application after it was filed on March 29.
In response to Trump’s appeal effort, Willis filed a motion on Monday, asking the judge to dismiss Trump’s appeal. The prosecutor’s 19-page filing argued that Trump only sought the appeal because he was unhappy with the trial court’s ruling.
“There being no error by the trial court, the present application merely reflects the applicants’ dissatisfaction with the trial court’s proper application of well-established law to the facts,” Willis wrote in the filing. “Because the applicants have wholly failed to carry their burden of persuasion, this Court should decline interlocutory review.”
Alex Slitz-Pool, Spencer Platt/Getty
Willis noted in the filing that the trial court found no evidence of prejudice to the defendants’ case or prosecutorial misconduct and urged the appeals court to deny the application.
Newsweek reached out via email on Monday to representatives for Trump and Willis for comment.
Willis has been leading the investigation that brought a criminal indictment against Trump, accusing him of attempting to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win in the Peach State. The former president and several co-defendants face racketeering charges.
Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, pleaded not guilty to all charges. He has maintained that all of his legal woes are part of a political “witch hunt” and “election interference” as he bids for a second term in the White House.
No trial date has been scheduled in Trump’s Georgia criminal case, one of four that the former president faces as he heads toward a likely rematch with Biden in November.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.