Judge Scott McAfee Rules Fani Willis Can Remain on Trump Case if She Fires Ex-Lover Wade
Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee ruled Friday that Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis can remain on the Donald Trump case if Nathan Wade, fellow prosecutor and ex-lover, is removed by Willis or voluntarily resigns.
“The choice is likely to be an easy one: If Willis were to remove herself, the case would come to a halt, but having Wade leave will ensure the case continues without further delay,” NBC News reported.
McAfee found the two former lovers only engaged in an “appearance of impropriety,” which should result in Willis leaving her office if Wade is not removed from the case.
“[T]he prosecution is encumbered by an appearance of impropriety,” he wrote. “As the case moves forward, reasonable members of the public could easily be left to wonder whether the financial exchanges have continued resulting in some form of benefit to the District Attorney, or even whether the romantic relationship has resumed,” he continued. “As long as Wade remains on the case, this unnecessary perception will persist.”
McAfee ruled the former lovers’ relationship produced no “actual conflict” that would force Willis from the case.
“Without sufficient evidence that the District Attorney acquired a personal stake in the prosecution, or that her financial arrangements had any impact on the case, the Defendants’ claims of an actual conflict must be denied,” the judge found:
This finding is by no means an indication that the Court condones this tremendous lapse in judgment or the unprofessional manner of the District Attorney’s testimony during the evidentiary hearing. Rather, it is the undersigned’s opinion that Georgia law does not permit the finding of an actual conflict for simply making bad choices — even repeatedly — and it is the trial court’s duty to confine itself to the relevant issues and applicable law properly brought before it.
More about the Willis case against Trump can be found here.
The case is Georgia v. Trump, No. 23SC188947 in Superior Court in Fulton County, Georgia.
