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Lawyers for former President Donald Trump have made a new filing amid ongoing efforts to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis through an appeal of his Georgia election interference case.
Newsweek reported that Trump’s attorneys confirmed a request for oral arguments on Monday, which comes after the Georgia Court of Appeals last week paused the case indefinitely, “pending a ruling on defendants’ efforts to disqualify Willis from the investigation.”
On Monday, Trump’s lead Atlanta attorney, Steve Sadow, confirmed in an emailed statement to Newsweek that Trump has filed a request for oral arguments in the court of appeals. He added that those arguments will help clarify the reasons why Willis should be disqualified.
“President Trump has filed his request for oral argument in the Georgia Court of Appeals, currently calendared for October. We believe oral argument will assist the Court by highlighting and clarifying the reasons why the case should be dismissed and Fulton County DA Willis should be disqualified for her misconduct,” Sadow said.
The court of appeals must first agree to hear oral arguments before any can take place, as Newsweek noted further.
A tentative October docket date has been scheduled for Trump’s appeal of the judge’s order declining to disqualify Willis. It’s almost certain now that the case will not go to trial before the November presidential election.
“A calendar will be sent to counsel of record confirming the exact date of oral argument,” the notice said.
The issue with Willis began in early January when former White House staff member Michael Roman filed a motion seeking to disqualify DA Willis from prosecuting the case against Trump and his co-defendants. The motion alleged that Willis had an “improper” relationship with then-Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade and claimed that she financially benefited from both the investigation and the relationship.
On March 15, Judge McAfee ruled that Trump and his co-defendants “failed to meet their burden” of proving that the romantic relationship between Willis and Wade constituted a “conflict of interest” or that Willis benefited from it. However, McAfee acknowledged a “significant appearance of impropriety” and decided that either Willis or Wade would need to step aside for the case to proceed in Fulton County. A few hours later, Wade resigned.
On March 18, Trump and several of his co-defendants sought permission from Judge McAfee to appeal his decision, and on March 20, McAfee granted their request. On March 29, attorneys for Trump and his co-defendants filed an application for an interlocutory appeal, arguing that Wade’s departure did not resolve the appearance of impropriety and had “cast a pall over these entire proceedings.”
On May 8, the Georgia Court of Appeals agreed to hear the appeal, giving Trump and his 14 co-defendants 10 days to file a notice of appeal, thus transferring the case from Fulton County Superior Court to the Court of Appeals, Fox 5 reported.
Meanwhile, a recent ruling allows attorneys representing one of the co-defendants in the Georgia case to contend that Willis exceeded her jurisdiction when she filed election-related racketeering charges against him.
Harrison Lloyd, a former leader of the Black Voices for Trump coalition, was granted a certificate of immediate review by District Judge Scott McAfee earlier this month. This allows Lloyd to request a review by the Georgia Court of Appeals. The McAfee decision is unexpected because it goes against earlier decisions invalidating procedural motions to prevent Willis from pursuing specific crimes.
McAfee wrote that he was willing to entertain Lloyd’s argument that Willis’ “election-related” investigation was beyond her jurisdiction.
He has previously argued that she “did not have authority to investigation or presentment authority to bring election-related charges against the Defendant absent a referral from the State Election Board,” according to filings.
