Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor behind a criminal case there accusing former President Donald Trump and others of conspiring against the state’s presidential election results from 2020, is reportedly intent on seeking a swift trial of the ex-president and co-defendants now that the initial proceedings working through a push to disqualify her ended.
The defense’s targeting of Willis hinged on her past romantic relationship with a now former member of her team handling the case, Nathan Wade. Local Judge Scott McAfee declined to force Willis off the case amid allegations suggesting personal benefits accrued from its progression, though he still pushed for a more limited personnel change addressing the claimed appearance of impropriety, precipitating Wade’s departure.
Initial reports on Willis’ latest intentions of pushing for a swift trial — before this year’s presidential election — for Trump and his co-defendants came from CNN. Willis “intends to ask the judge presiding over the Georgia criminal case to schedule a trial date as soon as this summer,” the outlet said, citing a group of sources.
McAfee has seemingly left open the possibility, allowing for an appeal of his decision against forcing Willis off the case while declining to issue a stay, meaning outright hold, of the proceedings. Legal expert Norm Eisen with the think tank/policy organization Brookings said he was anticipating the case against Trump and others heading to a jury this year. McAfee is “allowing immediate appeal of his ruling denying disqualification of Willis,” Eisen wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “BUT he is NOT staying things. So the Georgia trial can& should proceed to a jury this year. The appellate courts will more likely than not defer to his judgment— no more delay.”
Trump could already be facing at least one criminal trial before the election, with his New York criminal case on allegations of falsifying business records in connection to pre-2016 election hush money temporarily paused but not tanked. The delay of the trial originally set for this month was spurred by a late release of evidentiary materials by a federal prosecutor’s office.
