Fani Willis Gets 'Best Ruling' in Disqualification Case: Attorney

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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis received the "best ruling" in a case seeking to have her disqualified from former President Donald Trump's election interference case in Georgia, law professor and constitutional attorney Anthony Michael Kreis said on Friday.

"Judge McAfee just gave Fani Willis the best ruling he could. Wade is going to go," Anthony Michael Kreis wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

On Friday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee issued a ruling in the case involving Willis and attempts to have her disqualified from Trump's election interference case for a relationship she had with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor hired by her office.

McAfee ruled that the case against the former president can continue if Willis removes Wade from the case, or if her entire office dismisses themselves from it.

The Context:

Willis has found herself at the center of a potential ethics violation related to her alleged affair with Wade. It comes amid Willis' case against the former president, in which Trump and 18 co-defendants were indicted by a Georgia grand jury in August and face criminal racketeering charges for allegedly attempting to overturn the state's electoral results in the 2020 election won by Joe Biden.

As the case against Trump moved forward, one of his co-defendants, Michael Roman, filed a motion to have Willis removed over allegations that she had a relationship with Wade while the case and investigation against Trump was occurring.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is seen on February 15 in Atlanta. Willis received the "best ruling" in a case seeking to have her disqualified from former President Donald Trump's election interference case in... Alyssa Pointer-Pool/Getty Images

What We Know:

The judge's ruling on Friday comes after several hearings where Wade and Willis testified about their relationship. Willis and Wade said their relationship began after Wade was hired.

The ruling on Friday from McAfee states that there was no "actual conflict" as a result of the relationship between the two.

"Without sufficient evidence that the District Attorney acquired a personal stake in the prosecution, or that her financial arrangements had any impact on the case, the Defendants' claims of an actual conflict must be denied," the ruling said. "This 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."

McAfee added that "Georgia law does not permit the finding of an actual conflict for simply making bad choices," and noted that "it is the trial court's duty to confine itself to the relevant issues and applicable law properly brought before it."

Newsweek reached out to the Fulton County District Attorney's office via email for comment.

Views:

"While respecting the Court's decision, we believe that the Court did not afford appropriate significance to the prosecutorial misconduct of Willis and Wade, including the financial benefits, testifying untruthfully about when their personal relationship began, as well as Willis' extrajudicial MLK 'church speech,' where she played the race card and falsely accused the defendants and their counsel of racism. We will use all legal options available as we continue to fight to end this case, which should never have been brought in the first place," Steve Sadow, the lead defense counsel for Trump in the Fulton County case, said in a statement to Newsweek.

Meanwhile, a number of other legal experts reacted to the ruling on social media, such as attorney Bradley P. Moss who wrote on X, "Trump and Co took their best shot to kill the Georgia case. They failed. Wade will leave but the case will continue."

Attorney Norm Eisen also predicted on X that Wade will step aside from the case, allowing Willis to continue prosecution.

"Judge McAfee has followed my recommendation and called for Wade to go. If he does—& he will—Willis stays. Now let's get that trial scheduled for the summer!" he wrote.

Dave Aronberg, the state attorney in Florida's Palm Beach County, appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe and made comments similar to Kreis and said, "I think that she should just go ahead with the evidence and the law, remove Nathan Wade and she has two other prosecutors...it should not effect this case."

Attorney and legal commentator Elie Honig told CNN's News Central that Willis should take this ruling "as a win," adding, "I'd be breathing a sigh of relief."