A Georgia judge on Friday ruled that embattled District Attorney Fani Willis needs to remove her ex-lover and special prosecutor from the case, or step aside herself, scolding her for “making poor choices” and having “tremendous lapse in judgment.”
In the 23-page order, Judge Scott McAfee said that lawyers for former President Trump and several co-defendants charged in the sweeping 2020 election interference case “failed to meet their burden of proving” an “actual conflict of interest in this case.”
But McAfee said that the established record of evidence “highlights the appearance of impropriety” that infects the prosecution team unless special prosecutor Nathan Wade is removed, or Willis herself steps aside.
Here are five key takeaways from the court order:
JUDGE RULES FANI WILLIS MUST STEP ASIDE FROM TRUMP CASE OR FIRE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR NATHAN WADE
1. Judge McAfee calls Willis’ behavior in court testimony ‘unprofessional’
McAfee denied the co-defendants’ motion to have Willis disqualified from the case, saying they lacked sufficient evidence that Willis “acquired a personal stake in the prosecution, or that her financial arrangements had any impact on the case.”
However, he added that his finding “is by no means an indication that the Court condones this tremendous lapse in judgment or the unprofessional manner of the District Attorney’s testimony during the evidentiary hearing.”
“Rather, it is the undersigned’s opinion that Georgia law does not permit the finding of an actual conflict for simply making bad…
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