{"id":2266559,"date":"2024-06-13T00:41:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T04:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fani-willis-fights-to-end-trumps-appeal-over-disqualification\/"},"modified":"2024-06-13T00:46:19","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T04:46:19","slug":"fani-willis-fights-to-end-trumps-appeal-over-disqualification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fani-willis-fights-to-end-trumps-appeal-over-disqualification\/","title":{"rendered":"Fani Willis battles to halt Trump&#8217;s appeal against disqualification"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffani-willis-fights-to-end-trumps-appeal-over-disqualification%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2266559&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Fulton County\u200b prosecutors have requested a Georgia appellate court\u2063 to dismiss\u2064 former President Donald Trump&#8217;s appeal regarding a state \u2063court \u2064decision that allows District Attorney Fannie Willis to continue prosecuting a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mark-meadows-could-beat-trump-to-supreme-court-over-federal-court-removal-bid\/\" title=\"Meadows may surpass Trump in Supreme Court race for federal court removal.\">criminal racketeering case<\/a> against him and his associates. Assistant Fulton County District Attorney Donald Wakeford argued that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-judicial-nominees-highlight-conflict-between-progressives-civil-rights-groups\/\" title=\"Biden\u2019s Judicial Nominees Highlight Conflict Between Progressives, Civil Rights Groups\">trial court judge<\/a>, Scott McAfee, found no sufficient evidence of a disqualifying conflict of\u2062 interest on Willis&#8217;s part. Despite accusations of improper conduct\u2064 and relationships within the prosecutorial \u2063team, McAfee granted Willis \u200bsubstantial \u2064leeway to present evidence and ultimately did not \u200cfind grounds for her removal. The appellate court \u200bhad temporarily paused lower court proceedings while considering \u200cthe appeal, but oral arguments were postponed due to scheduling conflicts. Trump&#8217;s attorney, Steve\u200b Sadow, criticized the filing as an attempt \u2064to avoid scrutiny of alleged misconduct by Willis and restart lower court proceedings, claiming that concerns about potential untruthfulness during the hearings were not addressed sufficiently. Wakeford \u2063dismissed these concerns, stating that \u200dJudge McAfee had given Willis an \u200cultimatum to address these issues, which led to \u200bthe \u2063resignation of Nathan Wade, a key figure in the allegations \u200bagainst Willis.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Fulton County prosecutors asked a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/georgia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Georgia<\/a> appellate court to dismiss <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Donald Trump<\/a>\u2018s appeal of a state court ruling that allowed District Attorney Fani Willis (D) to continue prosecuting the criminal racketeering case against the former president and his allies.<\/p>\n<p>Assistant Fulton County District Attorney Donald Wakeford asked the Georgia Court of Appeals late on Wednesday to dismiss the appeal filed by Trump and eight other co-defendants, saying the trial court judge made \u201cexplicit factual findings\u201d that defendants failed to provide adequate proof that Willis had a disqualifying conflict of interest.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks after winning the Democratic primary on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in Buckhead, Ga. (AP Photo\/Brynn Anderson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAs both this Court and the Supreme Court have repeatedly held, Georgia appellate courts will not disturb a trial court\u2019s factual findings on disputed issues outside of certain, very rare, circumstances,\u201d Wakeford wrote. \u201cWhen a trial court makes determinations concerning matters of credibility or evidentiary weight, reviewing courts will not disturb those determinations unless they are flatly incorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wakeford\u2019s motion argues that Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who is tasked to adjudicate the sweeping racketeering case, granted \u201csubstantial leeway\u201d in \u201cgathering and submitting evidence\u201d to support claims that Willis should be removed from the case, and that McAfee found they did not meet the burden for removal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe trial court\u2019s careful and extensive evaluation of the resulting record, and its utter dismissal of the central evidence proffered by the Appellants, forecloses any possibility of reversal,\u201d Wakeford wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/illinois-loses-appeal-of-halted-gun-control-law\/\" title=\"Illinois Loses Appeal of Halted Gun Control Law\">appellate court decided<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/3029753\/judge-trump-georgia-rico-case-pauses-casework-fani-willis-decision\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>only days ago<\/a> to stay lower court proceedings against Trump and the eight co-defendants who joined together to seek Willis\u2019s removal over claims that she had an improper relationship with Nathan Wade, an outside attorney she hired to head up the case.<\/p>\n<p>Oral arguments at the appeals court have been tentatively slated for early October, but the court postponed them due to a conflict, a court spokeswoman previously indicated.<\/p>\n<p>Trump attorney Steve Sadow told the <em>Washington Examiner <\/em>that the filing from Fulton County prosecutors marks a \u201clast ditch effort\u201d to restart lower court proceedings in McAfee\u2019s court and \u201cstop any appellate review of DA Willis\u2019 misconduct.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe State\u2019s motion deliberately failed to mention that Judge McAfee\u2019s ruling stated an \u2018odor of mendacity remains\u2019 from the hearing testimony by the DA and the State\u2019s witnesses. The judge also said there were \u2018reasonable questions\u2019 as to whether Willis and former prosecutor Wade testified untruthfully. The State has tried this gambit before with no success,\u201d Sadow said.<\/p>\n<p>Wakeford contends that McAfee addressed those concerns when he gave Willis the ultimatum to either resign or have Wade step down. Wade <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/2923368\/trump-prosecutor-nathan-wade-resigns-from-fani-williss-office\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>resigned<\/a> the day of the judge\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2908253\/georgia-judge-tells-fani-willis-to-step-aside-or-remove-special-prosecutor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>order<\/a>, March 15.<\/p>\n<p>The request by the prosecution also comes as consultants for Wade interrupted his sit-down interview with CNN Wednesday night after interviewer Kaitlyn Collins pressed Wade about the timeline of his relationship with Willis.<\/p>\n<p>After Collins asked Wade \u201cwhen exactly\u201d the relationship began, Wade started to reply before he stopped, adding \u201cI\u2019m getting signaled here.\u201d He returned to the cameras 30 seconds later, and Collins asked him the question again. Wade responded that the questions about the relationship are \u201cjust a distraction.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt is not a relevant issue in this case,\u201d he added, \u201cand I think that we should be focusing on more of the facts and the indictment in the case.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Willis\u2019s office had not been expected to file any additional motions in the case until July, when they are scheduled to respond to the formal appellate briefs from Trump and the other defendants, which are due later this month.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Although three judges have been slated to weigh the appeal \u2014 Benjamin A. Land, Trenton Brown, and Todd Markle \u2014 it\u2019s not immediately clear when the court would take up the motion to dismiss or ask the defendants to formally respond.<\/p>\n<p>Read prosecutors\u2019 17-page motion to dismiss the appeal:<\/p>\n<p> <a title=\"View 6.12.24 Motion to Dismiss as Improvidently Granted on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/741821031\/6-12-24-Motion-to-Dismiss-as-Improvidently-Granted#from_embed\">6.12.24 Motion to Dismiss as Improvidently Granted<\/a> by <a title=\"View Kaelan Deese's profile on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/user\/624431598\/Kaelan-Deese#from_embed\">Kaelan Deese<\/a> on Scribd<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fulton County prosecutors have requested the Georgia appellate court to dismiss Donald Trump&#8217;s appeal against a ruling permitting District Attorney Fani Willis to proceed with the criminal racketeering case against him and his associates. Assistant District Attorney Donald Wakeford made the plea late Wednesday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2266560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP24061757891262.jpg.optimal.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2266559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP24061757891262.jpg.optimal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2266559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2266559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2266559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2266560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2266559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2266559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2266559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}