Georgia appeals court cancels argument over Trump’s effort to disqualify Fulton County DA
The Georgia Court of Appeals on Monday canceled scheduled oral arguments in President-elect Donald Trump’s effort to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the 2020 election interference case against Trump and 14 others.
In a brief order, the court stated that the Dec. 5 argument is canceled “until further order of this court.”
Willis, a veteran prosecutor, brought the charges against Trump, some of his former campaign and administration officials and others in August 2023 over their alleged efforts to overturn the Georgia results of the 2020 presidential election that he lost to President Joe Biden. Four of the defendants have pleaded guilty.
Trial on hold
The sprawling racketeering and influence case has been on hold since June – pending the outcome of the president-elect’s attempt to remove the Atlanta-area district attorney from the case. Trump alleges that Willis’s affair with the top prosecutor she tapped for the sprawling racketeering case, Nathan Wade, compromised her ability to oversee it.
Trump and several other defendants have asked the Court of Appeals to overturn a ruling by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who said in March that Willis can stay on the case if Wade resigned, which he immediately did. The judge had said he would allow some trial preparations to continue while the case is appealed.
Trump has suggested that if elected he would do away with the various legal cases against him, and the Justice Department's Special Counsel Jack Smith is winding down the two cases he brought against Trump.
Trump as president would have far less ability to stop the Georgia case than the federal indictments against him, but legal experts have said it would be unlikely for a state case to be able to proceed against a sitting president due to constitutional and practical constraints. Willis was reelected to a second term in November.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Argument canceled over disqualifying Fani Willis in Donald Trump case