Judge in Trump’s Georgia election case says upcoming ruling on whether to disqualify DA Willis won’t ‘be based on politics’

By Mary Kay Mallonee, CNN

(CNN) — The presiding judge in former President Donald Trump’s Georgia election subversion case said he will deliver his decision on the ethics allegations against District Attorney Fani Willis on Friday and that it will not “be based on politics.”

Georgia Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee confirmed to CNN affiliate WSB on Thursday that he will issue his order on whether to remove Willis from prosecuting Trump and the remaining co-defendants on Friday – in line with a previously set self-imposed deadline.

“Should be out tomorrow,” he told WSB. “I made a promise to everybody. These kinds of orders take time to write. I need to make sure I say exactly what I want to, and I plan to stick to the timeline I gave everyone.”

McAfee also said his ruling will be based on the law.

“The message I always want to convey is that no ruling of mine is ever going to be based on politics,” he said. “I’m going to be following the law as best I understand it.”

McAfee had told the court at the end of the Willis disqualification hearings that he would take at least two weeks to decide.

Trump and others in the case are seeking to disqualify Willis after accusing her of financially benefiting by hiring her special prosecutor in the case, Nathan Wade, with whom she became romantically involved. Willis and Wade have denied any wrongdoing.

The judge previously spoke about the case during an interview last week with WSB Radio in Atlanta about the challenger he will face in his reelection bid.

“I am calling as best I can and the law as I understand it. So, I still feel like I’m on track to having that done by the deadline that I put on myself,” he said of the order at the time.

He also spoke in that interview about how the case has personally affected him, saying he looks forward to the day he can speak with his young children about his experience presiding over the historic case.

“What I think about is I got two kids, 5 and 3. They are too young to have any idea what’s going on or what I do,” he said. “But what I’m looking forward to one day is maybe they grow up a little bit and ask me about it, and I’m looking forward to looking them in the eye and tell them I played it straight and I did the best I could.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Nick Valencia and Jason Morris contributed to this report.

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