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By Andrew Stanton
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Judge Scott McAfee's ruling into whether to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in the case into former President Donald Trump's alleged election interference sparked outrage from MAGA members on Friday.
McAfee ruled that Willis could choose between staying on the case herself or keeping attorney Nathan Wade as a prosecutor. Attorneys representing Trump's co-defendants argued the relationship between Willis and Wade should lead to her disqualification, alleging the pair benefited from taxpayer dollars. Willis, however, maintained that she engaged in no wrongdoing and that their relationship began only after he was hired.
Conservative commentator Benny Johnson said during a livestream discussing the ruling that it was "not the result we were looking for."
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"We were looking for total and complete disqualification," he said.
Conservative pundit Tim Pool wrote in a post to X, formerly Twitter, "This judge is a coward."
"I am absolutely SHOCKED that a guy who once worked for her, donated to her campaign and voted for her, also ruled in her favor. I'm totally shocked," wrote Brandon Dilley, host of The Dilley Show.
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The Context
The relationship between Willis and Wade threatened to derail Trump's prosecution in the election interference case. Willis charged Trump and 18 others for efforts to allegedly overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, which the former president has claimed was stolen despite a lack of evidence.
Her investigation focused on Trump's phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which he allegedly asked him to find enough votes to tilt the election in his favor, and the alleged plot to submit a false slate of pro-Trump electors to the Electoral College. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges, maintaining his innocence.
What We Know
After hearing arguments from defendants' attorneys arguing that Willis should be disqualified, as well as Willis' plea as to why she should stay on the case, McAfee handed down his ruling Friday morning.
He determined that either Willis and her office could remove themselves from the prosecution or she could have Wade removed.
"This finding is by no means an indication that the Court condones this tremendous lapse in judgement or the unprofessional manner of the District Attorney's testimony during the evidentiary hearing," Judge McAfee wrote.
"Rather, it is the undersigned's opinion that Georgia law does not permit the finding of an actual conflict for simply making bad choices—even repeatedly—and it is the trial court's duty to confine itself to the relevant issues and applicable law properly brought before it," he added.
Views
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, said the alleged "corruption in Fulton County" "makes most of us in Georgia sick" in response to the ruling.
"Judge McAfee should have recused himself in the first place because of his obvious bias. Fani Willis lied under oath in his courtroom! Fani and Wade conspired with the Whitehouse and Jan 6th Committee, talk about RICO charges! Fani Willis overpaid her lover Nathan Wade as he had zero experience with RICO cases, abuse of taxpayer funds!" she wrote.
"Judge McAfee worked for Fani Willis, of course he decided to not disqualify her. More Fulton County Corruption on full display!" wrote commentator Alex Bruesewitz.
Charlie Kirk wrote, "Even leftwing networks knew Fani Willis deserved to be removed from this case. Judge McAfee instead chose to be a coward and protect a woman he's donated to in the past. It's time for Georgia to use SB 332, which Gov Kemp signed into law just this week, and remove the rogue prosecutor in Fulton."
What's Next
Willis has not yet responded to McAfee's ruling, but legal experts have said the judge gave her an "easy choice," as she can simply remove Wade from the case and continue toward the trial, which has already been delayed due to the disqualification question.
Should Willis remove herself from the trial, another district attorney in the state of Georgia, or potentially Attorney General Christopher M. Carr, a Republican, could take over the prosecution.
Update 3/15/24, 10:02 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 3/15/24, 10:28 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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