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Fulton County District Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade has officially resigned from the election interference case against former President Donald Trump, clearing the way for District Attorney Fani Willis to continue her role.
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A Georgia judge has ruled that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis shouldn't be disqualified from prosecuting the racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and several others as long as Nathan Wade, whom she shared a romantic relationship with and appointed as special council, instead leaves the case, NBC News reported Friday (March 15) morning.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled that the "appearance of impropriety" created by Willis and Wade's relationship should result in either leaving the case, but the case would come to a halt had Willis removed herself. Wade's departure ensures that it will, instead, continue without any additional interruption.
Judge McAfee also determined that there was no "actual conflict" brought on by the relationship, which would have otherwise required Willis to be disqualified.
"Without sufficient evidence that the District Attorney acquired a personal stake in the prosecution, or that her financial arrangements had any impact on the case, the Defendants’ claims of an actual conflict must be denied," the judge wrote via NBC News.
“This finding is by no means an indication that the Court condones this tremendous lapse in judgment or the unprofessional manner of the District Attorney’s testimony during the evidentiary hearing. 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.
Willis and Wade admitted to having been in a relationship after former Trump White House and campaign staffer Michael Roman filed a motion for her to be disqualified but claimed it began after he was appointed special counsel in November 2021. Trump and Roman have pleaded not guilty to the case, which accuses them of conspiring with others to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.