Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks at a news conference alongside District Attorney Nathan Wade after a grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump and his allies for their attempt to overturn the state’s 2020 election results, Aug. 14, 2023, in Atlanta tip, had brought back.
Elijah Nouvelage | Reuters
Special prosecutor Nathan Wade will withdraw from the wide-ranging election interference case in Georgia against former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants, saving the case after Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled Friday that either Wade or District Attorney Fani Willis must recuse themselves .
“I hereby tender my resignation effective immediately,” Wade wrote in a letter to Willis on Friday that was obtained by NBC News. He added that he was stepping down “to move this case forward as quickly as possible.”
Wade’s announcement followed a decision by McAfee earlier in the day that represented a middle ground following the bombshell revelation that Willis and Wade had been in a romantic relationship for more than a year while the case was investigated and prosecuted. Information about when exactly the relationship began varied widely.
Friday’s decision and Wade’s subsequent announcement came just two days after McAfee dismissed six counts in the Willis case – including three against Trump – ruling that the basis for those allegations had not been adequately explained. In those counts, Trump and five other defendants were charged with the crime of soliciting a public officer to violate an oath. McAfee left the door open for the charges to be refiled.
One of Trump’s co-defendants first called in January for Willis to be disqualified from prosecuting the case against the former president and his co-defendants for allegedly trying to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election in Georgia.
Several other defendants, including Trump, joined the effort to have the charges dismissed and Willis fired due to conflicts of interest. The defendants also called for Wade to be disqualified.
Fulton County Chief Judge Scott McAfee looks on during a hearing in the State of Georgia case against Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse on February 12, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Alyssa Pointer Pool | Getty Images
More news about Donald Trump
“While we respect the court’s decision, we believe the court did not give appropriate weight to the prosecutorial misconduct of Willis and Wade,” Trump lawyer Steve Sadow said Friday in response to the initial McAfee ruling.
“We will pursue all available legal options as we continue to fight to end this case that should never have been initiated,” he said.
One of those options would be to file a certificate of review, Georgia State Bar Chairman Pete Skandalakis said in a statement to NBC News. The certification would provide the defense with an opportunity to appeal the decision, he added.
Willis and Wade only admitted to the relationship after it was first alleged in defendant Michael Roman’s court papers in January. Those filings alleged that the prosecutor and the district attorney had an “inappropriate, secret personal relationship” and that they benefited from the agreement at taxpayer expense.
But both Willis and Wade insisted their relationship represents neither a personal nor financial conflict, and Willis has dismissed claims to that effect as “fantastical theories and rank speculation.”
In a heated hearing in mid-February, Willis went after Ashleigh Merchant, the defense attorney who first brought the relationship allegations to light.
On the witness stand, both Willis and Wade insisted that their relationship only became romantic after he joined the election interference case in November 2021.
In Willis’ 98-page, 41-count indictment, Trump was initially charged with 13 crimes. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, pleaded not guilty to the charges. Several of Trump’s co-defendants have already reached plea deals in the case.
Source link
2024-03-15 20:34:19
www.cnbc.com