A Georgia Judge Permits Trump to Appeal the Ruling Retaining DA Fani Willis in the Election Meddling Case

Despite their accusations of wrongdoing, a court on Wednesday granted former President Donald Trump and eight of his co-defendants permission to appeal the decision for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue working on the Georgia election tampering case.

Judge Scott McAfee of Fulton County Superior Court granted a certificate of prompt review, addressing the claims made by Trump and his co-defendants that McAfee’s decision to retain Willis on the case “is of such importance to the case that immediate review should be had.”

Last week, McAfee issued an order allowing Willis to continue working on the racketeering case she filed against Trump in the event that her designated special prosecutor Nathan Wade tendered his resignation. Wade gave up his job that afternoon.

Willis and Wade were both charged with wrongdoing by the lawyers representing Trump and the other defendants. When the two went on vacation together while Willis was investigating the matter, they said she was profiting monetarily from her love connection with Wade. Although McAfee did not find any conflicts of interest, she stated that Wade or Willis would need to resign due to a “appearance of impropriety.”

At this stage of the case, the defendants were unable to immediately appeal McAfee’s ruling; thus, they had requested his approval of a “certificate of immediate review,” which would have brought the issue before an appeals court. After Trump files an appeal of McAfee’s decision, the state Court of Appeals will have 45 days to choose whether to hear the case, according to the ruling. The appeal must be filed by the lawyers within ten days.

A new prosecutor would be chosen to take over the case, upending and delaying the extensive prosecution for at least months if the appeals court decides to hear the case and ultimately rules to disqualify Willis.

In his decision, McAfee stated that unless he receives word from the appeals court—which may choose not to consider the appeal—he intends to proceed with the case as usual. “The Court intends to continue addressing the many other unrelated pending pretrial motions, regardless of whether the petition is granted within 45 days of filing, and even if any subsequent appeal is expedited by the appellate court,” he stated.

“Highly significant,” according to Trump’s lawyer Steve Sadow, who also said in a statement that the defense “is optimistic that appellate review will lead to the case being dismissed and the DA being disqualified.”