The Georgia Court of Appeals Thursday disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting the state’s case against former President Donald Trump for election interference in 2020.

In a 2-1 decision, the appellate court declared that Willis’ sexual relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to lead the case, constituted an appearance of impropriety that could not be overcome even though Wade removed himself from the prosecution team.

A Fulton County grand jury indicted Trump – now the president elect – and 18 co-defendants in August of last year on charges of participating in a racketeering conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

The defendants sought to have Willis removed from the case, citing her relationship with Wade as a conflict of interest.

Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled last March that Willis could remain on the case but only if Wade removed himself. Wade resigned from the case several hours later.

On Thursday, the appellate court ruled that McAfee’s solution wasn’t enough to avoid an appearance of impropriety on Willis’ part.

“The remedy crafted by the trial court to prevent an ongoing appearance of impropriety did nothing to address the appearance of impropriety that existed at times when DA Willis was exercising her
broad pretrial discretion about who to prosecute and what charges to bring,” Judge Trenton Brown wrote.

“While we recognize that an appearance of impropriety generally is not enough to support disqualification, this is the rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings.”

One of the three judges on the appellate panel – Benjamin Land – dissented from the ruling. He argued the appellate court should have given greater deference to McAfee’s trial court opinion.

“I am particularly troubled by the fact that the majority has taken what has long been a discretionary decision for the trial court to make and converted it to something else entirely,” Land wrote.

Although Thursday’s ruling did not dismiss the underlying indictment of Trump and his associates, it raises serious doubts over whether the last of several court cases still pending against the president elect can move forward.

Capitol Beat is a nonprofit news service operated by the Georgia Press Educational Foundation that provides coverage of state government to newspapers throughout Georgia. For more information visit capitol-beat.org.