Judge's 'disjointed' ruling in Fani Willis case raises more questions, 'avoids the cliff problem,' Turley says

Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley argued a Georgia judge's decision to leave Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on the Trump election case, if she parts ways with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, will only lead to additional questions. The constitutional scholar addressed Judge Scott McAfee's decision during "America's Newsroom" Friday, explaining that the judge avoided having to remove Willis' office from the case entirely. 

SPECIAL ATTORNEY HIRED BY FANI WILLIS TO HELP PROSECUTE TRUMP DONATED BIG BUCKS TO HER CAMPAIGN

JONATHAN TURLEY: We've been talking about this possibility of a Solomon-esque type of ruling by the court to take Wade off and leave Willis. The reason that's attractive is it avoids the cliff problem... If he took Willis off the case, he'd have to take the entire office out of the mix. He'd have to reassign this to another set of prosecutors. That would cause considerable delay. It could also cause the dismissal of the case. If those new prosecutors looked at this racketeering theory and said, like many of us, wow, this doesn't really hold together very well. So this avoided the cliff, but it did not avoid the questions that will inevitably come up... It's like... finding two people in a bank vault and taking one off to jail... The question is... the appearance problem that the judge identified with regard to Wade, it was directly related to his relationship with Willis. They both testified in the same way. They were the two parts of... this relationship, and yet only one of them was disqualified. And so that's going to lead to these questions... Why should Willis escape that same penalty? The opinion leaves this feeling like the court went and shot the wounded.

Willis — the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia — previously said the allegations brought against her of having an "improper" romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade were made because she is Black. (Getty Images)

A Georgia judge has ruled that embattled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis must either step aside from the case against former President Donald Trump or fire special prosecutor Nathan Wade. 

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee issued the ruling after hearing evidence presented by lawyers for the co-defendants in the sweeping 2020 election interference case. Four co-defendants accused Willis of having an "improper" affair with Nathan Wade, whom she hired to help prosecute the case. 

McAfee said that the defendants "failed to meet their burden of proving that the District Attorney acquired an actual conflict of interest in this case through her personal relationship and recurring travels with her lead prosecutor."

"However, the established record now highlights a significant appearance of impropriety that infects the current structure of the prosecution team - an appearance that must be removed through the State’s selection of one of two options," he wrote.

KEY WITNESS IN FANI WILLIS CASE TESTIFIES HE MAY HAVE LIED IN TEXTS ABOUT FRIENDS' AFFAIR

The co-defendants had alleged that Willis benefited financially by hiring Wade because they were in a pre-existing relationship when he was hired in 2021 and would vacation together. 

Both Wade and Willis denied they were in a romantic relationship prior to his hiring and that the couple would split the costs of their shared travels; Willis said she reimbursed Wade for her share of the trips in cash.

Last month, Judge McAfee held a two-day evidentiary hearing where the defense, led by attorney Ashley Merchant, set out to expose a money trail that would mean Willis has a conflict of interest in the case against Trump and should be disqualified.

Both Willis and Wade insisted that their relationship started in 2022, after Wade was hired. But they contradict testimony from Robin Yeartie, a former "good friend" of Willis and past employee at the DA's office. 

Fox News' Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Video