Donald Trump’s lawyers have called embattled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ attempt to dismiss the former president’s appeal seeking to boot her from his Georgia election fraud case a “Hail Mary” and a “desperate bid to avoid disqualification.”
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee, along with eight other co-defendants, are asking the Peach State’s Court of Appeals to boot Willis for alleged misconduct after she admitted to having an affair with since-ousted special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Last week, Willis’ office asked for the appeal to be tossed out, arguing the issue of her and Wade’s former romance is now moot since he was forced to resign on March 15.
But Trump’s lawyer Steve Sadow fired back in court papers Thursday, calling Willis a” deeply conflicted District Attorney.”
Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee — who allowed Willis to remain on the case on the condition that Wade step down — and the appeals court both granted Trump the right to appeal before the start of trial because they “have already determined these issues are critical,” Sadow wrote.
If the issue of Willis’ disqualification isn’t resolved by the appeals court it could “fatally infect all subsequent proceedings … all at great wasted time and expense to the courts, the parties and the taxpayers,” Sadow argued.
And Willis’ office’s motion to dismiss, “is a calculated, disingenuous attempt to mislead this court,” the Trump attorney alleged.
The former president, 78, and his remaining 13 co-defendants were charged last year under the state’s anti-racketeering law with unlawfully conspiring to overturn the Georgia 2020 presidential election result. But the majority of the defendants sought to either have the charges dismissed or Willis kicked off the case, claiming she had a conflict of interest in dating Wade.
Willis was accused of appointing her boyfriend to the lucrative post and then financially benefitting from his salary when Wade treated her to exotic vacations.
But the duo refuted the accusations on the witness stand, claiming they didn’t become romantically involved until months after Wade started working on the case and they roughly split the cost of their trips with Wade paying up front on his credit cards and Willis reimbursing her portion in cash.
“The Georgia Court of Appeals granted us the right to appeal after due and proper consideration,” Sadow said in a statement. “The State’s ‘Hail Mary’ motion is an obvious attempt to stop appellate review of DA Willis’ misconduct.”
“We are optimistic that the Court will deny the motion and proceed to favorably decide the appeal on the merits.”
The DA’s office didn’t immediately return a request for comment Thursday.