Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has requested the court dismiss Donald Trump’s application to appeal a verdict that granted her a stay in the former president’s election subversion case in Georgia.
Despite doubts about his personal relationship with Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade, an independent attorney Willis hired to assist with the Trump inquiry, Judge Scott McAfee ruled last month that Willis may continue as lead prosecutor. Following Wade’s resignation, the case proceeded forward with Willis. Trump’s legal team, meanwhile, has continued to accuse Willis of misbehavior.
At the end of March, Trump’s attorneys filed an application to appeal McAfee’s ruling, claiming that “the trial court erred as a matter of law by not requiring dismissal and DA Willis’ disqualification.” To bring the appeal further, the Georgia Court of Appeals must consent to hear the case. The submission of the application on March 29 gave Willis’ office ten days to respond.
Willis filed a motion on Monday, asking the judge to dismiss Trump’s appeal. The prosecutor’s 19-page petition claimed that Trump only filed the appeal because he disagreed with the trial court’s decision.
“There being no error by the trial court, the present application merely reflects the applicants’ dissatisfaction with the trial court’s proper application of well-established law to the facts,” Willis said in his motion to dismiss. “Because the applicants have wholly failed to carry their burden of persuasion, this Court should decline interlocutory review.”
Willis stated in the petition that the trial court found no evidence of prejudice to the defendants’ case or prosecutorial misconduct and urged the appeals court to refuse the application.
Willis has been directing the investigation that resulted in a felony accusation against Trump, accusing him of attempting to overthrow President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory in Georgia. The former president and seven co-defendants are facing racketeering accusations.
Trump, the expected Republican presidential nominee in 2024, pleaded not guilty to all charges. He has claimed that all of his legal problems are the result of a political “witch hunt” and “election interference” as he seeks a second term in the White House.
Trump’s Georgia criminal case, one of four he faces as he gets ready for a rematch with Biden in November, does not yet have a trial date.
