ATLANTA (NewsNation) — A Georgia judge will decide Friday whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis can remain on the prosecution team in the election interference case against President Donald Trump.
Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee had previously set a self-imposed two-week deadline, which will expire Friday. He emphasized his mandate regarding the Willis hearings, stating in an interview with WSB-TV that his focus will solely be on the law, not politics.
“The message I want to convey is no ruling of mine is ever going to be based on politics. I’m going to be following the law the best I understand,” he told the news outlet.
He confirmed that the draft decision is prepared, but he’s been refining and fine-tuning it. However, the core decision has remained the same.
“I took this job not because I wanted to score partisan political points, didn’t go looking for the spotlight. I did it because I love the law and giving people their day in court and being efficient about it,” he said.
Throughout the hearings on whether to disqualify Willis, nine defense witnesses argued Willis had a financial conflict of interest due to a preexisting romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she hired for the case, before prosecuting the former president.
Willis denies allegations of a conflict of interest and misuse of taxpayer funds involving that relationship. She and Wade testified under oath that they did not start dating until after the latter was hired as a special prosecutor in November 2021. However, the lawyer representing Michael Roman, one of Trump’s co-defendants, tried creating a timeline for the court showing that the relationship started before that point.
Predicting the outcome is challenging because McAfee can rule based on an actual conflict of interest under Georgia law, but there’s also consideration of the appearance of one before the proceedings began.
The decision lies solely within McAfee’s discretion. If he chooses to remove Willis, the case against Trump will proceed with new prosecutors taking over. As for the trial timeline, her potential dismissal Friday would delay it. Notably, Willis aimed to initiate trial proceedings by August.
On Wednesday, McAfee made a significant ruling, dropping six of the 41 charges, including three specifically charging Trump for solicitation violation, while leaving room for a potential appeal.
