Several co-defendants of former President Donald Trump filed notices that they are appealing the rejected bid to boot Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the Georgia election tampering case.
Back in March, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee determined that Willis, a Democrat, could remain on the case if special counsel Nathan Wade, with whom she allegedly had an “improper” affair, was removed from the case.
On Monday, four defendants in the case — Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, Cathy Latham and Michael Roman — revealed in court filings that they intended to challenge that ruling to the Georgia Court of Appeals.
They are now joining the effort alongside Trump and David Shafer, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party.
The Georgia Court of Appeals has agreed to take up the challenge but a court date has not yet been announced.
Willis had appointed Wade to lead the prosecution in the sprawling racketeering case against Trump and about a dozen other co-defendants.
Trump, 77, and his allies alleged that Willis began her romance with Wade prior to naming him to that post in November 2021 and that she misappropriated taxpayer dollars during the relationship.
The two claim to have ended things last summer.
Both Willis and Wade were adamant that their courtship began after his appointment and rejected accusations of misappropriating funds.
McAfee ultimately concluded that the defendants “failed to meet their burden of proving” their case against Willis and Wade.
“However, the established record now highlights a significant appearance of impropriety that infects the current structure of the prosecution team,” he added in his ruling, before declaring that the two could not remain on the case together.
Wade stepped down that same day.
Separately, McAfee described Willis’ reimbursement practice as unusual but concluded that such behavior did not impact the decision to prosecute the Georgia election tampering case.
The effort to disqualify Willis from the case began in January.
Trump was first charged in the sprawling election racketeering case last August alongside 18 others, several of whom have since entered guilty pleas.
He is facing 10 criminal counts and has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty as he did with all 88 criminal counts across four indictments pending against him.
So far, besides Trump’s Manhattan hush money case, which is currently underway, none of his other cases have trial start dates.
Trump’s legal team has seemingly sought to delay his trials as much as possible as he mounts a third campaign for the White House.
