ATLANTA (AP) 鈥� A Georgia appeals court on Wednesday agreed to review a lower court ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue to prosecute the she brought against former President Donald Trump.
Trump and some other defendants in the case had tried to get Willis and her office removed from the case, saying her romantic relationship with created a conflict of interest. Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee in March that should force Willis off the case, but he and the other defendants to seek an appeal of his ruling from the Georgia Court of Appeals.
That intermediate appeals court to take up the case. Once it rules, the losing side could ask the Georgia Supreme Court to consider an appeal.
Trump's lead attorney in Georgia, Steve Sadow, said in an email that the former president looks forward to presenting arguments to the appeals court as to why the case should be dismissed and why Willis 鈥渟hould be disqualified for her misconduct in this unjustified, unwarranted political persecution.鈥�
A spokesperson for Willis declined to comment on the Court of Appeals decision to take up the matter.
The appeals court鈥檚 decision to consider the case seems likely to cause a delay in a case and further reduce the possibility that it will get to trial before the November general election, when Trump is expected to be the Republican nominee for president.
In his order, McAfee said he planned to continue to address other pretrial motions 鈥渞egardless of whether the petition is granted ... and even if any subsequent appeal is expedited by the appellate court.鈥� But Trump and the others could ask the Court of Appeals to stay the case while the appeal is pending.
McAfee wrote in his order in March that the prosecution was 鈥渆ncumbered by an appearance of impropriety.鈥� He said Willis could remain on the case only if Wade left, and the special prosecutor submitted his resignation hours later.
The allegations that Willis had improperly benefited from her romance with Wade resulted in a tumultuous couple of months in the case as intimate details of Willis and Wade鈥檚 personal lives were . The serious charges in one of were largely overshadowed by the love lives of the prosecutors.
Trump and 18 others were indicted in August, accused of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally try to overturn his narrow 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia.
All of the defendants were charged with violating , an expansive anti-racketeering statute. after reaching deals with prosecutors. Trump and the others have pleaded not guilty.
Trump and other defendants had that McAfee was wrong not to remove both Willis and Wade, writing that 鈥減roviding DA Willis with the option to simply remove Wade confounds logic and is contrary to Georgia law.鈥�
The allegations against Willis first surfaced in a motion filed in early January by Ashleigh Merchant, a lawyer for former Trump campaign staffer and onetime 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 for his work and then benefitted when he paid for lavish vacations.
Willis and Wade acknowledged the relationship but said they didn鈥檛 begin dating until the spring of 2022, after Wade was hired in November 2021, and their romance ended last summer. They also testified that they split travel costs roughly evenly, with Willis often paying expenses or reimbursing Wade in cash.
Kate Brumback, The Associated Press
