A Georgia judge ruled Friday that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) or the prosecutor she had a romantic relationship with must step aside before her office can continue its election interference case against former President Trump and his allies.
Judge Scott McAfee ruled that Willis’s once-romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade constituted an appearance of conflict of interest in the racketeering case, allowing the district attorney to still prosecute Trump if Wade departs.
“[T]he established record now highlights a significant appearance of impropriety that infects the current structure of the prosecution team — an appearance that must be removed through the State’s selection of one of two options. The Defendants’ motions are therefore granted in part,” McAfee wrote in his 23-page ruling.
The Trump prosecution was sidetracked by the probe into Willis and Wade’s relationship. In more than three days of hearings, defense attorneys sought to prove that Willis hired her romantic partner to prosecute Trump and has since benefited from his appointment in the form of trips they took together.
The judge’s decision is a middle ground between the two sides. Trump and eight of his co-defendants argued the relationship meant the entire district attorney’s office should be thrown off the case, which would’ve hurled the prosecution into chaos. Prosecutors described the calls to step aside as baseless.
McAfee’s ruling provides a pathway for Willis to still prosecute the historic election interference case, in which she indicted Trump and his allies on racketeering and other charges, contending they entered a months-long criminal conspiracy to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state.
But to do so, her once-romantic partner will have to go.
“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,” McAfee wrote.
“Put differently, an outsider could reasonably think that the District Attorney is not exercising her independent professional judgment totally free of any compromising influences. As long as Wade remains on the case, this unnecessary perception will persist.”
The romance initially came to light in January court papers filed by Ashleigh Merchant, an attorney who represents Trump 2020 campaign operative Michael Roman, one of the former president’s co-defendants.
Defense attorneys sought to prove Willis had an actual conflict of interest, asserting she hired her romantic partner to prosecute Trump and benefited from lavish vacations they took together using Wade’s compensation.
Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead Georgia attorney, said his team will use “all legal options available as we continue to fight to end this case.”
“While respecting the Court’s decision, we believe that the Court did not afford appropriate significance to the prosecutorial misconduct of Willis and Wade, including the financial benefits, testifying untruthfully about when their personal relationship began, as well as Willis’ extrajudicial MLK ‘church speech,’ where she played the race card and falsely accused the defendants and their counsel of racism,” Sadow said in a statement.
The duo maintained throughout the proceedings that they began dating in early 2022 — after the special prosecutor was hired to the case. They both took the stand during the recent hearings, insisting that any payments were split between themselves, usually in cash.
“The testimony introduced, including that of the District Attorney and Wade, did not put these concerns to rest,” McAfee wrote.
The Hill has reached out to the district attorney’s office for comment.
The judge, however, said he didn’t find credible the main witnesses the defense subpoenaed to prove the alleged conflict.
McAfee said he couldn’t put “any stock” in the testimony of Terrence Bradley, Wade’s ex-divorce attorney and law partner, who sent texts suggesting the relationship began earlier than prosecutors’ claims. Bradley claimed the texts were speculation and not based on actual facts.
“His inconsistencies, demeanor, and generally non-responsive answers left far too brittle a foundation upon which to build any conclusions,” McAfee wrote. “While prior inconsistent statements can be considered as substantive evidence under Georgia law, Bradley’s impeachment by text message did not establish the basis for which he claimed such sweeping knowledge of Wade’s personal affairs.”
McAfee said he also considered Wade’s cellphone data submitted by Trump’s lawyers, who suggested the data indicated the prosecutor had visited Willis’s residence dozens of times prior to his hiring. Prosecutors said that analysis was unreliable, and that some of it could be disproven.
“Even after considering the proffered cellphone testimony from Defendant Trump, along with the entirety of the other evidence, neither side was able to conclusively establish by a preponderance of the evidence when the relationship evolved into a romantic one,” McAfee ruled.
Trump and most of his other co-defendants pleaded not guilty to their charges. McAfee’s ruling enables the case to move ahead upon either Willis or Wade stepping aside.
A trial date has not yet been set, and the defendants have various pending motions to get their charges tossed.
Updated at 9:45 a.m. ET