District Attorney Fani Willis looks on during a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse on March 1, 2024, in Atlanta. (Alex Slitz-Pool/Getty Images)
McAfee's ruling in March 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, adding that Willis and her whole office can choose to step aside, or Wade can withdraw from the case.
Wade subsequently resigned from his post as special prosecutor.
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.
In his March order, McAfee said while Willis' "reimbursement practice" was "unusual and the lack of any documentary corroboration understandably concerning," he ultimately decided that the defendants did not present "sufficient evidence" that expenses weren't "roughly divided evenly."
District Attorney Fani Willis speaks in the Fulton County Government Center during a news conference on Aug. 14, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
He also said that "the evidence demonstrated that the financial gain flowing from her relationship with Wade was not a motivating factor on the part of the District Attorney to indict and prosecute this case."
In February, Judge McAfee held a two-day evidentiary hearing, when 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.
"[T]he Court finds that the record made at the evidentiary hearing established that the District Attorney’s prosecution is encumbered by an appearance of impropriety," McAfee wrote in his order.
"As the case moves forward, reasonable members of the public could easily be left to wonder whether the financial exchanges have continued resulting in some form of benefit to the District Attorney, or even whether the romantic relationship has resumed."
"Put differently, an outsider could reasonably think that the District Attorney is not exercising her independent professional judgment totally free of any compromising influences. As long as Wade remains on the case, this unnecessary perception will persist," he said.
