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Georgia judge on track to rule this week on if DA Fani Willis will be removed from Trump case

ByNick Valencia and Jason Morris, CNN, CNNWire

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Georgia judge on track to rule this week on Fani Willis decision

Trump and others are seeking to disqualify Fani Willis after she hired a special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, with whom she became romantically involved.

ATLANTA -- The presiding judge in former President Donald Trump's Georgia election subversion case says he is on track to order this week on whether to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

In an interview last week on WSB Radio in Atlanta to discuss the challenger he will face in his reelection bid, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee briefly spoke about Willis and his pending order on whether to remove her from prosecuting Trump and the remaining co-defendants, CNN reported.

"I gave myself a deadline because I knew everyone wanted an answer. And I'll tell you that an order like this takes time to write," McAfee said in the interview.

"There is a lot that I have to go through. And so, I've had - and again I'll emphasize this - I've had a rough draft in an outline before I ever heard a rumor that someone wanted to run for this position, so the result is not going to change because of politics," McAfee added.

"I am calling as best I can and the law as I understand it. So, I still feel like I'm on track to having that done by the deadline that I put on myself," he said.

McAfee told the court at the end of the Willis disqualification hearings that he would take at least two weeks to decide.

Trump and others in the case are seeking to disqualify Willis after accusing her of financially benefiting by hiring her special prosecutor in the case, Nathan Wade, with whom she became romantically involved.

During the eight-minute audio clip from "The Shelley Wynter Show" on WSB Radio - and in a rare instance he has spoken about the case - McAfee talked about how the case has impacted him personally, saying he looks forward to the day he can speak with his toddler-aged children about his experience presiding over the historic case.

"What I think about is I got two kids, 5 and 3. They are too young to have any idea what's going on or what I do.," the judge said. "But what I'm looking forward to one day is maybe they grow up a little bit and ask me about it, and I'm looking forward to looking them in the eye and tell them I played it straight and I did the best I could."

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