Judge says either DA Fani Willis or prosecutor Nathan Wade must step down in Georgia election case

ABC News–The judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants has declined to outright disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, but ruled that either she or prosecutor Nathan Wade must step aside from the case.

In a 23-page ruling, Judge Scott McAfee wrote that while “dismissal of the indictment is not the appropriate remedy,” he concluded that “the established record now highlights a significant appearance of impropriety that infects the current structure of the prosecution team.”

McAfee ordered that the conflict described by the defendants presents “an appearance that must be removed through the State’s selection of one of two options.”

“The District Attorney may choose to step aside, along with the whole of her office, and refer the prosecution to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council for reassignment,” McAfee wrote.

“Alternatively, SADA Wade can withdraw, allowing the District Attorney, the Defendants, and the public to move forward without his presence or remuneration distracting from and potentially compromising the merits of this case.”

In justifying his decision, McAfee found that defendants “failed to meet their burden of proving that the District Attorney acquired an actual conflict of interest” — the standard by which McAfee apparently measured his ruling.

A key element of the defense’s case was showing that Willis deliberately prolonged the case to further enrich Wade, who was being paid hourly. McAfee fully disagreed with their argument.

“But in fact, there is no indication the District Attorney is interested in delaying anything. Indeed, the record is quite to the contrary,” he wrote.

“The District Attorney has not in any way acted in conformance with the theory that she arranged a financial scheme to enrich herself (or endear herself to Wade) by extending the duration of this prosecution or engaging in excessive litigation,” McAfee wrote.

Despite this, McAfee judged Wade’s testimony to be “patently unpersuasive,” which McAfee said “indicates a willingness on his part to wrongly conceal his relationship with the District Attorney.”

“An outsider could reasonably think that the District Attorney is not exercising her independent professional judgment totally free of any compromising influences,” McAfee wrote. “As long as Wade remains on the case, this unnecessary perception will persist.”

Wade’s testimony, McAfee wrote, left the investigation “encumbered by an appearance of impropriety.”

The judge also rejected the defense’s argument that a church speech Willis gave necessitated her disqualification.

The highly anticipated ruling follows a contentious, monthslong disqualification effort spearheaded by Trump and his co-defendants over allegations of misconduct against Willis, which she has fiercely denied.

Trump co-defendant Michael Roman and several other defendants first sought Willis’ disqualification from the election case over allegations that she benefited financially from her romantic relationship with prosecutor Nathan Wade, who she hired for the case, through vacations they took that were often booked on his credit card.