ATLANTA — The Georgia Court of Appeals declared Wednesday that it will not move forward with an election interference prosecution of former President Donald Trump until after deciding whether to disqualify Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis from the case.
The one-page ruling came just two days after the appellate court set a hearing date of Oct. 4 on the appeal, virtually guaranteeing the case won’t go to trial before the Nov. 5 presidential election pitting Trump in a rematch against incumbent President Joe Biden.
Lawyers for Trump and eight of the co-defendants in the election interference case sought Willis’ removal after she admitted a prior romantic relationship with attorney Nathan Wade, who she hired to lead the prosecution. The relationship first came to light last January in a motion filed by Ashleigh Merchant, a lawyer from Cobb County representing Republican political operative and Trump ally Mike Roman.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled in April that Willis could remain on the case but only if Wade stepped down, which he did several hours after the decision was handed down.
A Fulton grand jury indicted Trump and 18 codefendants last August, charging the Republican with participating in a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, which saw Joe Biden become the first Democrat to carry the Peach State in nearly 30 years.
With the Georgia case on hold, Trump’s conviction last week for falsifying business records to cover up a hush-money scheme appears to be the only one of four criminal cases against the ex-president likely to be tried before the election.
Two other cases charging Trump in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and with retaining classified documents after leaving office are moving through the legal system so slowly they also aren’t expected to go to trial before November.