(The Lion) — Citing a loss in public confidence in the election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump, a Georgia court removed the prosecutor, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
The court chose not to dismiss the case against Trump as requested by the defense, but said an “appearance of impropriety” required Willis to be removed, according to the Associated Press.
In a 2-1 decision, the appeals court panel found that Willis’ improper relationship with the special prosecutor she appointed to head the case against Trump wasn’t “cured” simply by the dismissal of the prosecutor, Nathan Wade, by the trial judge, as reported the Times.
During the trial it was revealed by the defense that Willis had a romantic relationship with Wade.
“The remedy crafted by the trial court to prevent an ongoing appearance of impropriety did nothing to address the appearance of impropriety that existed at times when DA Willis was exercising her broad pretrial discretion about who to prosecute and what charges to bring,” said the court’s majority, according to Fox News. While “an appearance of impropriety generally is not enough to support disqualification, this is the rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings.”
The state court will now search for another special prosecutor to take up the case, said the AP.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump called the case “a disgrace to justice.”
“There is no way such corrupt people can lead a case, and then it gets taken over by somebody else,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “It was a corrupt case, so how could it be taken over by someone else?”
Finding a prosecutor doesn’t guarantee the case will proceed.
The New York Times was gloomy about the future of the case, saying the dismissal of Willis could “doom” the “last active criminal indictment” outstanding against Trump.
The AP reports a new prosecutor would need to use vast resources to prosecute “the sprawling and complex case,” or could file different charges or drop the controversial case entirely.
In a congressional committee meeting in October, Wade admitted he met with White House officials and lawyers from the partisan mostly-Democrat Jan. 6 committee. Those meetings were revealed by invoices Wade submitted for payment to Fulton County, according to the Washington Times.
Wade billed Fulton County $728,000 for the Trump prosecution, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC).
“The case has to be thrown out because it was started corruptly by an incompetent prosecutor who received millions of dollars through her boyfriend – who received it from her – and then they went on cruises all the time,” Trump told Fox.
Willis and Wade took an expensive trip to Belize, along with other trips, for which Willis and Wade have testified that Willis reimbursed Wade in cash, said the AJC.
