Fani Willis Faces Ruling on Whether She Will Be Disqualified

A judge is expected to rule by the end of this week on whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be removed from the Donald Trump election fraud case in Georgia.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all 13 charges against him and has said the case is politically motivated because he is almost certain to take the Republican presidential nomination. McAfee dropped three of those charges this week, leaving Trump with 10 charges to face. The three dropped charges are for allegedly trying to encourage Georgia state officials to break their oath of office. McAfee ruled that the evidence in the case does not support convictions under the very specific nature of the three charges.

Last month, Willis gave evidence in a two-day hearing following accusations that Willis was in a relationship with Wade. The timeline of their relationship has emerged as a key point of contention. Trump's lawyers examined phone records alleging the pair were in a relationship before the Georgia election fraud case began.

Willis and Wade contest that and have said under oath that their relationship began after the indictment of Trump and 18 other defendants for allegedly trying to overthrow the result of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

During a testy cross-examination with Ashleigh Merchant, an attorney for Trump's co-accused, Michael Roman, Willis strongly denied any wrongdoing and suggested that the focus should be on the defendants in the case, not on her private life.

Newsweek sought email comment from Trump's attorney and Willis' office on Thursday.

Willis' & The Election Case's Fate

If Willis is removed, the case would likely have to be transferred to another district attorney's office, potentially delaying Trump's case by months.

If Willis is removed, the case would likely have to be transferred to another district attorney's office, potentially delaying Trump's case by months.

Willis has already said that the trial may continue past the presidential inauguration day in January 2025. If the case was transferred to another district attorney's office, it would almost certainly delay the case past inauguration.

If elected president, Trump could then apply to the Supreme Court to have the case delayed until he leaves office.

Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University, previously told Newsweek that Trump should be able to postpone the case if elected president.

"I believe that the Supreme Court would order a delay of any state criminal prosecution of a sitting president until the end of his term, regardless of when the alleged crime occurred. It will rely on the structure of the constitution, federalism, and the supremacy clause," he said.

Judge Scott McAfee is expected to rule by court closing time on Friday on whether Willis should be removed from the Trump case.

Trump and his co-accused claim that Willis only hired the chief prosecutor in the case, Nathan Wade, because they were in a relationship.