- The appeals panel put the Trump case on hold pending challenge to Willis
- Georgia judge allowed her to stay on case after bombshell affair testimony
A Georgia appeals court has put one of Donald Trump‘s four criminal trials on hold, pausing his election interference case there to allow for a challenge based on Fulton County DA Fani Willis’ affair with a prosecutor.
The move comes after Georgia judge Scott McAfee issued a ruling allowing Willis to remain in her role as prosecutor after holding bombshell hearings on her affair with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
The hearing featured dramatic testimony about lavish vacations and angry disputes about when the affair began and whether it had the potential to compromise the appearance or the fact of a fair trial.
Trump was convicted on Thursday, May 30 in the Stormy Daniels case in Manhattan, and the former president faces a July sentencing hearing that could in theory send him to prison. But Florida Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump nominee, continues to issue rulings likely to stall that case past the election. His federal election interference case in Washington, D.C. has been put on hold while the U.S. Supreme Court weighs Trump’s claims of presidential immunity from criminal prosecution.
Oral arguments were expected to be held in October in the Georgia case, already likely pushing it off until after November.
Fulton County DA Fani Willis’ affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade has torpedoed the schedule for the Trump trial
The move comes just days after the appeals court set the October date for a hearing the sensational appeal.
The twin rulings were another procedural win for Trump, even though it came just days after a Manhattan jury convicted him on 34 counts in his Stormy Daniels trial.
Even if they decide to reaffirm Judge Scott McAfee’s decision to allow Willis to continue to prosecute the case and then allow the case to resume, it might not come until several months after the election.
Based on a state constitutional time limit, they would need to rule before mid-March 2025, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, or about four months after the election.
The hearing comes after Trump and co-defendants sued following McAfee’s decision, which allowed Willis to stay on the case she oversaw despite having an acknowledged affair with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Wade defended his office romance as ‘American as applie pie’
The calendar gives Trump a reprieve in Georgia, as he prepares to fight the guilty verdict against him in the Stormy Daniels case
Wade, who along with Willis gave dramatic testimony inside a Georgia courtroom as McAfee was weighing conflict of interest challenges brought by lawyers for Trump and some of his codefendants, left the team of prosecutors following McAfee’s decision that either Willis or he had to go.
He later defended his office romance as being ‘as American as apple pie.’
Trump’s stunningly successful run of delaying three of his criminal trials come as his allies are accusing opponents of waging ‘lawfare’ against him, and as he and his allies plan retribution against their opponents – with Trump floating a plan to put Hillary Clinton and the Manhattan DA in jail.