According to lawyers for former President Trump, the “Hail Mary” petition filed by Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis to halt a court appeal is an “obvious attempt” to prevent her “misconduct” from being discovered.
Last week, Wills argued that The Fulton County Superior Court found there was not sufficient evidence to support his claim that he had a conflict of interest, and said there was “no standing” to appeal Judge Scott McAfee’s March ruling that allowed the Atlanta prosecutor to stay on the case.
However, in a legal filing on Thursday, Trump’s lawyers said Georgia Court of Appeals that “without citing any applicable authority, the State filed this ‘Hail Mary’ motion to dismiss these meritorious appeals, accusing this Court of ‘needlessly’ granting interim review. The State has no proper procedural means to seek reconsideration of this Court’s proper decision to hear the merits.”
“President Trump has filed his response in opposition to the state’s baseless motion to dismiss the interim appeal,” Trump’s lead attorney, Steve Sadow, said in a statement. “The Georgia Court of Appeals, after due and reasonable deliberation, granted us the right to appeal. The state’s “Hail Mary” motion is a clear attempt to prevent appellate review of DA Willis’ misconduct.”
Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis appeals after judge dismisses several Trump charges
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks to the media after winning the Democratic primary on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in Buckhead, Georgia. (AP Photo/Brin Anderson)
He added, “We are hopeful the court will deny the motion and rule favorably on the merits of the appeal.”
Trump and several co-defendants alleged earlier this year that Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade had an affair before Trump appointed her and that he benefited financially from the affair, though both have denied the allegations.
Judge McAfee’s order in March He said Wade should be removed to protect Willis from being disqualified over Trump’s election interference in Georgia. McAfee allowed the defense to appeal his decision, and the appeals court announced last week that it would hear the defense’s case to disqualify Willis.
The appeals court agreed to hear the case on October 4 and put all other lawsuits involving Trump and those defendants on hold until the disqualification case is resolved.
“The state’s motion to dismiss the interim appeal, which has already been granted by the Court of Appeals, appears to be a last-ditch effort to prevent any appellate review of DA Willis’ misconduct,” Sadow said in a statement Wednesday.
Trump’s appeal to disqualify Fannie Willis from GA case to be heard in October
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis looks on during a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia vs. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta on March 1, 2024. (Photo: Alex Schlitz-Pool/Getty Images)
He said, “The state’s motion deliberately did not mention that Judge McAfee’s ruling stated that the trial testimony of the DA and state’s witnesses ‘smacked of perjury.’ The judge also said there were “reasonable questions” about whether Willis and former prosecutor Wade had committed perjury. The state has tried this trick before, without success.”
Both Wade and Willis denied The two were in a romantic relationship before Wade was hired and insisted that Wade split the cost of their shared trips. Willis said she paid Wade for his share of the trips in cash.
In his March order, McAfee said that while Willis’ “reimbursement methodology” was “unusual and the lack of any documentary substantiation was concerning,” he ultimately decided that the defendants did not present “substantial evidence” that the expenses “were not roughly equally divided.”
He also said that “the evidence demonstrated that the financial benefit from her relationship with Wade was not a motivating factor for the district attorney to indict and prosecute this case.”
In February, Judge McAfee held a two-day evidentiary hearing where the defense, led by attorney Ashley Merchant, attempted to reveal the money transactions to imply that Willis had a conflict of interest in the case against Trump and should be disqualified.
Former Fannie Willis employee testifies she was fired after telling DA about spending
Former President Trump will appear at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on Thursday, May 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool)
“The Court finds that the record prepared at the evidentiary hearing establishes that the District Attorney’s prosecution appears to have been improper,” McAfee wrote in his order.
“As the case progresses, questions may arise in the minds of discerning members of the public as to whether the financial transactions continued, resulting in some type of benefit to the district attorney, or even whether the romantic relationship was resumed.”
“In other words, an outsider might believe that the district attorney is not exercising her independent professional judgment, completely free of any compromising influence,” he said. “That unnecessary perception will persist as long as Wade remains on the case.”
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Wade resigned from the D.A.’s office following McAfee’s decision.
When the defense submitted a joint motion for a certificate of urgent review in March, McAfee said his March 15 order on the defendants’ motion to disbar and disqualify the Fulton County district attorney was “so important to this case that it must be reviewed urgently” and allowed the defendants to seek an opportunity to appeal to the Georgia Court of Appeals, which the court granted last month.
