A judge is expected to rule Friday on the attempt by former President Donald J. Trump and his co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case to disqualify Fani T. Willis, the prosecutor overseeing the case.
The disqualification effort began more than two months ago, when a lawyer said in a lawsuit that Ms. Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, had had a romantic relationship with Nathan J. Wade, the lawyer she hired to try the case. to lead. .
Defense lawyers argued that the relationship between the accusers presented an untenable conflict of interest because Mr. Wade received more than $650,000 in public funds while at least partially paying for cruises and other vacations he took with Ms. Willis.
Ms. Willis acknowledged the relationship several weeks after the defense filing and later testified that the relationship ended last summer. She and her team have sharply refuted the idea that a conflict ever existed.
Speculation and hearings surrounding the relationship have since overshadowed the election case itself, in which the former president and 14 of his allies are accused of conspiring to overturn Trump’s defeat in Georgia in the 2020 election.
The judge overseeing the case, Scott McAfee of Fulton County Superior Court, said on March 1 that he would rule on the disqualification question within two weeks.
The stakes are significant. Removing Ms. Willis from the case would result in the loss of an experienced and determined prosecutor who has been pursuing the case for more than three years. Her entire office would also be removed, leaving the case in limbo during a potentially lengthy effort to find a new prosecutor to take on the large, complex case.
Judge McAfee did not tip during weeks of contentious hearings. But he has maintained a balance throughout, trying to expeditiously resolve legal disputes and find a middle ground.
Developments this week suggested the judge was continuing to move the broader case along. On Wednesday, he quashed six charges, including one related to a call Mr Trump made in early January 2021 to pressure Georgia’s foreign minister. But the judge left the remainder of the racketeering charge against Mr. Trump and his 14 co-indictments intact. suspects, which initially included 41 counts.
Whatever the outcome of the judge’s ruling, Ms. Willis will not emerge unscathed. She was forced to defend herself in extraordinary testimony on the witness stand, during hearings that reversed the normal roles of prosecutors and defense attorneys and accused each other of lying.
If the case goes to trial, a jury’s views could be colored by weeks of revelations about prosecutors’ romance. And Georgia’s Republican-led legislature is already taking steps to review what took place.
But the immediate future of the case will not become clear until the judge rules on the disqualification issue.
“There are several legal issues that I have to get to the bottom of, several factual findings that I have to make,” Judge McAfee said during a hearing on March 1, outlining his timeline for reaching a decision. “I cannot make that at this time, and so I will take the time to ensure that I give this matter the full attention it deserves.”