Why Fani Willis was allowed to stay on as prosecutor of criminal case against Trump in Georgia – and what happens next

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis listens to final arguments in her disqualification hearing on March 1, 2024, in Atlanta, Ga. Alex Slitz/AFP via Getty Images by Ronald S. Sullivan Jr., Harvard University In an unexpected decision, a Georgia judge ruled that the conspiracy to commit election interference case against Donald Trump and several associates can continue if Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis either steps aside from the case or fires her former boyfriend, whom she hired as special prosecutor. The ruling by Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee puts an end to a January 2023 motion to have Willis removed from the case for allegedly having a personal financial stake in the case by “benefiting from her romantic relationship” with Wade through the lavish vacations they took together. Though Willis acknowledged “a personal relationship,” she claimed their relationship started after Wade was hired to prosecute Trump. In his ruling, McAfee wrote that Willis showed a “tremendous lapse in judgment” regardless of when the relationship began. In the case against Trump, four out of the 19 people charged have already pleaded guilty. Trump and the rest of the defendants have pleaded not guilty. The Conversation asked criminal law scholar...