Trump Georgia case put on hold until outcome of appeal against Fani Willis ruling, court says

ATLANTA — The Georgia Court of Appeals has put a stay in place in the Georgia election interference case involving former President Donald Trump and 15 others accused of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election here in Georgia.

The ruling came down shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday putting a hold on the case until the court resolves the appeal against Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee’s ruling that Fani Willis could stay on the case.

The court is tentatively set to hear the case starting on Oct. 4.

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Trump and other co-defendants filed a motion to remove Willis from the case over her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

Willis and Wade acknowledged the relationship, which they said ended last summer, but they have argued it does not create any sort of conflict and has no bearing on the case.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled that Willis would be allowed to stay on the case if Wade stepped aside. Wade resigned the same day as the ruling.

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Trump and his attorneys later submitted an appeal arguing the indictment should have been dismissed, and that Willis and her team should have been disqualified from the case.

Legal experts had already said with the Appeals Court taking up the case, that Trump and the other co-defendants in the case would not go to trial before the 2024 election. This now all but guarantees that.

“The bottom line is the case is now stopped completely. The judge can’t do anything else on it. The appeals court was going to take its time and decide whether Fani Willis should be disqualified, and also whether the charges that were thrown out by the trial judge should be reinstated,” attorney Manny Arora told Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne.

Arora represented one of the defendants in the case who has already taken a plea deal. He says the court wants to make sure they get everything right.

“Everything stopped because the Court of Appeals wants to look deeply into this issue. The disqualification issue based on the underlying facts is somewhat novel, and also the fact that the judge threw out a couple of counts. The government is going to try to get those reinstated.

Trump’s Georgia attorney, Steve Sadow, sent a statement saying:

“The Georgia Court of Appeals has properly stayed all proceedings against President Trump in the trial court pending its decision on our interlocutory appeal which argues the case should be dismissed and Fulton County DA Willis should be disqualified for her misconduct.”

In a statement, the attorney for Michael Roman, a defendant in the case, said:

“We are happy that the Court of Appeals agrees with us that this issue is so important to this entire case that it decided to stop the case from moving forward in the trial court until the issue of whether or not Willis must be removed from the case can be decided. Mr. Roman is innocent and we hope that this misuse of the justice system will finally come to an end when a disinterested prosecutor takes over the case.”

The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office told Winne that the Court of Appeals order speaks for itself, but confirmed that the court is not only hearing an appeal by defense lawyers but also an appeal by the district attorney’s office.

RELATED NEWS:

Attorney says Trump’s New York conviction could be used against him in Georgia case Attorney Manny Arora said he sees the Georgia case as a heavier lift than the New York case.

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