Special prosecutor Nathan Wade has stepped down from the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump.
Legal analyst and attorney Jonathan Turley said that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has one « last opportunity » to step aside in the case she built against former President Donald Trump.
Trump and 18 co-defendants were indicted last August for allegedly attempting to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election win in Georgia. Trump, who is the presumed 2024 Republican presidential nominee, has pleaded not guilty to all charges and claimed the case is politically motivated against him.
In an attempt to get Willis and her team disqualified and the charges against them thrown out, some of the defendants, including Trump, argued that a personal relationship between Willis and her lead prosecutor Nathan Wade created a conflict of interest. While Willis and Wade confirmed that they had been in a relationship, they said that neither had personally benefited from it.
On Friday, Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over the election interference case, ruled that the evidence presented by the defense was « legally insufficient » to conclude that there was a conflict of interest, however, « the appearance of impropriety remains. »
He said Willis and her office would either need to step aside and let another district attorney take over the case, or Wade will have to withdraw himself from the case. Wade resigned hours after McAfee filed his decision.
Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday: « The real question now is whether Willis will take the last opportunity to do the right thing and withdraw from the case.
