US judge rules top prosecutor can stay in Donald Trump’s Georgia election case

A judge has rejected a bid to disqualify the top prosecutor who brought charges in Georgia against Donald Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 election.

A Georgia judge has rejected a bid to disqualify the top prosecutor who brought charges in the southern state against Donald Trump, clearing an obstacle to a trial of the former president on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said District Attorney Fani Willis can remain on the high-profile case, though if she does so the lawyer she hired to be her lead prosecutor, Nathan Wade, must step aside.

Mr Wade submitted his resignation just hours after Judge McAfee’s ruling.

“I am offering my resignation in the interest of democracy, in dedication to the American public, and to move this case forward as quickly as possible,” he said in a letter to Ms Willis.

Mr Trump and his co-defendants had been seeking to have Ms Willis kicked out – and have the entire Georgia case dismissed – following revelations that she had what they claimed was an “improper intimate personal relationship” with Mr Wade.

They alleged that some of the $US650,000 ($990,405) Mr Wade has been paid to work on the case was then used by him to take Ms Willis on “lavish vacations,” including a Caribbean cruise and Napa Valley tour.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Picture: Alex Slitz/AFP

Fulton County Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade. Picture: Alyssa Pointer/AFP

Ms Willis and Mr Wade acknowledged having a romantic relationship but insisted that it began only after she appointed him to work on the case in November 2021.

Judge McAfee, in a 23-page ruling, said Ms Willis had shown a “tremendous lapse” in judgment and there was a “significant appearance of impropriety”, but said she could stay if Mr Wade dropped out.

“The Court finds the allegations and evidence legally insufficient to support a finding of an actual conflict of interest,” the judge said. “However, an odour of mendacity remains.”

The allegations of misconduct against Ms Willis threatened to torpedo the case against Trump.

The Republican presidential candidate pleaded not guilty in August to charges of involvement in a criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia, where Democrat Joe Biden won by some 12,000 votes.

The 77-year-old is also facing federal charges of conspiring to overturn the election results.

Ms Willis has asked for the trial of the former president and his 14 co-defendants to begin on August 5 – three months before the November election expected to pit Trump against Mr Biden once again – but Judge McAfee has not yet agreed to a start date.

Mr Trump’s lawyers have sought repeatedly to delay his various court cases until after the election, when he could potentially have the federal charges against him dropped if he wins.

Former President Donald Trump. Picture: Angela Weiss/AFP

‘Prosecutorial misconduct’

Steve Sadow, Mr Trump’s lead counsel in Georgia, expressed disappointment with Judge McAfee’s ruling saying it minimised the “prosecutorial misconduct of Willis and Wade”.

“We will use all legal options available as we continue to fight to end this case, which should never have been brought in the first place,” Mr Sadow said.

Mr Trump, in a post on Truth Social, welcomed Mr Wade’s departure, saying he had “resigned in disgrace”.

Four of Mr Trump’s original 18 Georgia co-defendants, including three former campaign lawyers, have pleaded guilty already to lesser charges in deals that spared them prison time.

Others indicted in Georgia include former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Mr Trump’s former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Mr Trump welcomed Mr Wade’s departure. Picture: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP

Mr Trump’s federal case on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election had been scheduled to start on March 4, but has been frozen as the Supreme Court considers Mr Trump’s claim that as a former president he enjoys immunity from criminal prosecution.

The Supreme Court is to hear the immunity case on April 25.

An appeals court ruled earlier this year that a former president does not have immunity for actions taken while in the White House.

Mr Trump is also scheduled to go on trial in New York on March 25 on state charges of falsifying business records by paying pre-election hush money to a porn star.

The start of the New York case may be postponed, however, after prosecutors said Thursday that they would accept a delay of up to 30 days to allow Mr Trump’s defence team to examine tens of thousands of pages of new records.

Mr Trump also faces federal charges in Florida of mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House.