(Washington) The judge in the trial of Donald Trump and his 14 co-defendants in Georgia for illegal attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election on Friday rejected Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis’ request for dismissal but imposed conditions for its maintenance.
Judge Scott McAfee concluded there was insufficient evidence of a “conflict of interest” because of her intimate relationship with a special prosecutor she hired in the case.
PHOTO ARCHIVES AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Judge Scott McAfee
But, concluding that there was “an appearance of inappropriate behavior” and denouncing a “huge lack of judgment” on the part of the prosecutor, he demanded that she withdraw from the case, with her entire team, or that this investigator, Nathan Wade, withdraws.
For ex-President Trump, the relationship between Fani Willis and Nathan Wade was reason enough for the charges against him to be dropped.
Targeted by four separate criminal proceedings, the Republican candidate in the November election against outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden, seeks through his multiple appeals to go to trial as late as possible, in any case after the election.
A withdrawal from the prosecutor would have considerably postponed the holding of this trial, for which no date has been set.
Four of the 19 people initially targeted by the indictment issued on August 14, notably under a Georgia law on organized gang crime used by the prosecutor, have already pleaded guilty. They were sentenced to reduced sentences, without prison time, in exchange for their testimony at the future trial of the other defendants.
Mr. Trump’s co-defendants include his former personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and his most recent White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows.