CNN
—
A Georgia appeals court has ended the election subversion conspiracy case against Donald Trump and several of his co-defendants – a victory for the former president who seeks to postpone further legal matters until 2025. he cannot defeat them massively.
The new order filed Wednesday by the Georgia Court of Appeals is the latest indication that a trial in Georgia’s statewide election subversion case will not take place before the 2024 presidential election. court said the case would be stayed until a panel of judges rules on the disqualification of Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis.
The appeals court is expected to rule on the disqualification issue by March 2025, although it could issue its decision sooner. Several sources familiar with the matter told CNN that the timeline remains very uncertain.
Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee initially allowed proceedings to continue in his courtroom as the appeals court weighed an appeal of his decision to allow Willis to remain on the case.
A spokesperson for Willis’ office said he could not comment on the appeals court order at this point. The DA can ask the appeals court to expedite a decision in this case if it chooses.
The appeals court decision marks Trump’s string of successes in his long-standing strategy of putting prosecutors on the defensive, attacking them in the public sphere and challenging them in court.
Trump and some of his co-defendants in the sprawling racketeering case attempted to have Willis disqualified from the case because of a romantic relationship she had with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to help her manage the matter. The defendants argued that Willis benefited financially from her relationship with Wade, whose husband defense attorneys claimed covered several vacations.
In March, after what amounted to a mini-trial in which lawyers for Trump and his co-defendants sought to prove their case against Willis and Wade, McAfee found that there was not enough evidence to firmly prove that Willis had benefited financially from this relationship.
Willis’ testimony in televised hearings has put his personal life in the spotlight, distracting discussion from the accusations against Trump and others in Georgia.
The judge ultimately ruled that Willis would be allowed to continue running the case if Wade resigned, which he later did.
Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead defense attorney in Georgia, said the decision was correct.
“The Georgia Court of Appeals has rightly stayed all proceedings against President Trump in the trial court pending its ruling on our interlocutory appeal which contends that the case should be dismissed and that the County Attorney Fulton Willis should be disqualified for her misconduct,” Sadow said in a statement. .
Meanwhile, in Trump’s classified documents case in Florida, the federal judge overseeing those proceedings has shown a propensity to devote much of his court time to Trump’s demands to question investigators and authority of his prosecutors.
That judge, Aileen Cannon, indicated Wednesday that she still appeared willing to hold a hearing in which Trump could attempt to swear in federal investigators so his lawyers could question them, and said she would spend a day and half this month to hear arguments about the legality of his prosecutor.
As with the Georgia case, the Florida documents case does not have a trial date set.
This story has been updated with additional details.