Not removing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump and others over her romantic relationship with a top prosecutor would undermine public confidence in the legal system, a lawyer for one of Trump’s co-defendants told a judge Friday.
After several days of extraordinary testimony, the judge began hearing arguments over whether Willis’ relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade created a conflict of interest that should force both of them off one of four criminal criminal cases against the former president.
John Merchant, an attorney for Trump co-defendant Michael Roman, told Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee that “if the court allows this kind of behavior to go on … the entire public confidence in the system will be shot.” If McAfee denies the bid to disqualify Willis, “there’s a good chance” an appeals court would overturn that ruling and order a new trial, Merchant argued.
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