FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — The Georgia Court of Appeals has set a tentative date on when it will hear arguments about whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the 2020 election interference case.
The RICO case involves Former President Donald Trump and other co-defendants, and the hearing will happen before this year's November presidential election. A three-judge panel, including Judges Trenton Brown, Todd Markle and Benjamin Land, has set aside time on Oct. 4 to hear the case.
"We look forward to presenting argument before Judges Brown, Markle and Land on why this case should be dismissed and Fulton County D.A. Willis should disqualified for the trial court's acknowledged 'odor of mendacity' misconduct in violation of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct," Trump's lead defense counsel Steve Sadow said.
The appeal effort centers on a March ruling by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee that allowed Willis to remain as the prosecutor of the sprawling case, which accuses the former president and 18 others of conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.
The effort to remove Willis started when an attorney representing one of the defendants in the case filed a motion asking McAfee to disqualify Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade. The pair were accused of improperly financially benefitting from a romantic relationship.
Although the judge admonished Willis about the relationship, he ultimately ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the pair benefitted. In the end, McAfee offered Willis two choices: either she could step aside, along with her office, and refer the case to the Prosecuting Attorney's Council for reassignment, or Wade could withdraw. Within the same day of the ruling, Wade resigned, but efforts to remove Willis remain ongoing.
Since the McAfee's ruling, several defendants signed on to appeal his decision; Willis has filed her own notice of a cross appeal.
It's currently unclear when a ruling on the appeal would be handed down following this hearing. 11Alive reached out to Willis' office for any comment about this hearing and is awaiting a response.