Georgia Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled on Friday that Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis must either step aside or cut ties with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Lawyers for former President Donald Trump and several co-defendants pushed to have Willis disqualified over what they alleged was an improper romantic relationship between her and Wade. McAfee rejected the motion, saying that the defendants failed to prove an “actual conflict” of interest in 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 wrote.
“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,” he added.
But McAfee said that the “prosecution is encumbered by an appearance of impropriety.”
"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 wrote. "As long as Wade remains on the case, this unnecessary perception will persist."
Both the defendants and Willis could seek to appeal the ruling.
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