Trump secures another win in bids to slow criminal prosecutions

By Andrew Goudsward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Donald Trump notched another win in his campaign to slow the criminal cases against him on Wednesday, when a Georgia appeals court agreed to hear his bid to disqualify the district attorney prosecuting him for trying to overturn his election loss in the state.

The ruling prolongs the legal battle over a former romance between Fani Willis, Fulton County's district attorney, and a onetime top deputy, a relationship defense lawyers have used to try to derail the case.

The court's decision to hear the appeal before trial means further delay in the case, one of four criminal prosecutions facing the Republican former president as he seeks to unseat Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election.

"The practical significance is we're not going to have a trial in Georgia prior to the election," said Amy Lee Copeland, a former federal prosecutor in the state.

The decision came a day after a federal judge in Florida nominated to the bench by Trump indefinitely postponed the start of his trial on charges of mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House.

A federal case related to Trump's attempts to subvert the 2020 election has also been stalled while the U.S. Supreme Court weighs Trump's assertion that former presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts taken while in office.

Taken together, recent developments have made it far more likely that Trump's ongoing trial in New York related to hush money payments to a porn star ahead of the 2016 election is the only case that will reach a jury before voters cast their ballots.

"This shouldn’t be a huge surprise," Bob Driscoll, a Washington-based defense lawyer who has represented people close to Trump, told Reuters. "The cases are all factually complex, legally novel, or both."

If Trump wins the presidency, he can potentially order the Justice Department to drop the two federal cases against him once he takes office in January 2025. He does not have that option for the New York or Georgia cases, but legal experts say state prosecutors likely would not move forward while he is president.

An April Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 60% of registered voters thought it was important that Trump's criminal trials take place before the election. A similar number of registered voters, including one in four Republicans, said they would not vote for Trump if a jury convicted of him of a felony.

CHALLENGE TO WILLIS

Trump and eight of his 14 co-defendants charged in the Georgia case have urged the appeals court to overturn a state judge’s March ruling allowing Willis to continue supervising the prosecution.

Trump has pleaded not guilty and accused prosecutors of a politically motivated effort to damage his campaign.

"The case should be dismissed and Fulton County DA Willis should be disqualified for her misconduct in this unjustified, unwarranted political persecution," Steve Sadow, Trump's lead lawyer on the Georgia case, said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Willis' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

The appeal must be resolved before the case can move to trial.

The exact timeline is uncertain, but it will likely take at least a few months for lawyers to file legal briefs and schedule arguments. The case could be assigned to the court's April term, which would require a ruling by Nov. 1, four days before the election.

Trump and the eight co-defendants moved to disqualify Willis after revealing that she was romantically involved with Nathan Wade, an outside lawyer she hired to help lead the investigation. Wade booked several vacations with Willis while he was being paid by her office, an arrangement the defense argued posed a conflict of interest.

Trump’s lawyer has also argued that Willis improperly suggested the defendants and their lawyers had racial motivations. Both Willis and Wade are Black.

Willis and Wade have acknowledged having a relationship, but said it began after Wade was hired to work on the case. Willis' office has denied allegations of misconduct and said the relationship had no impact on the case.

Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee ruled the relationship did not pose a conflict of interest but said it created an appearance of wrongdoing. McAfee said Willis’ office could remain on the case if Wade stepped aside, which he agreed to do.

McAfee later gave permission for Trump and his co-defendants to appeal his ruling before trial.

Trump and the 14 co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to racketeering and other charges stemming from what prosecutors allege was a scheme to overturn Trump's narrow defeat in Georgia in the 2020 election. Four others who had been co-defendants in the case have pleaded guilty in deals with the prosecutors.

A trial date has not yet been set.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Scott Malone, Lisa Shumaker, Jonathan Oatis and Bill Berkrot)