Georgia appeals court says it will consider Trump’s effort to disqualify DA Fani Willis from election subversion case

By Devan Cole and Holmes Lybrand, CNN

(CNN) — The Georgia Court of Appeals will consider an effort by Donald Trump and his co-defendants to disqualify District Attorney Fani Willis from the 2020 election subversion case.

In a brief order Wednesday, the court said it will hear the appeal from Trump and others challenging the ruling from Judge Scott McAfee that allowed Willis to remain on the case.

No trial date has been set in the sprawling election subversion conspiracy case against Trump, and the decision to consider the appeal is another sign that pre-trial efforts to delay a trial are succeeding.

Tuesday, a federal judge in Florida indefinitely postponed Trump’s trial on mishandling classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. And the Supreme Court has yet to rule on Trump’s arguments that he has full immunity for actions while president, an issue that has stopped the federal trial on January 6, 2021-related charges.

Willis’ office declined to comment on the order.

Trump attorney Steve Sadow said the former president “looks forward to presenting interlocutory arguments to the Georgia Court of Appeals as to why the case should be dismissed and Fulton County DA Willis should be disqualified for her misconduct in this unjustified, unwarranted political persecution.”

In March, after what amounted to a mini-trial where attorneys for Trump and his co-defendants sought to prove their case against Willis and her prosecutor on the case, Nathan Wade, the Fulton County judge presiding ultimately decided Willis would be allowed to continue to helm the case if Wade stepped down.

McAfee found there was not enough evidence to firmly prove Willis financially benefited from her relationship with Wade, who defense attorneys say covered several vacations for the pair. Willis testified that she paid Wade back for the expenses in cash.

Weeks after McAfee’s ruling, Trump and several co-defendants appealed, arguing that Willis “has covered herself and her office in scandal and disrepute, as she has squandered her credibility and repeatedly and flagrantly violated the heightened ethical standards demanded of her position.”

This story has been updated with additional details.

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