How Racism Accusations Play into Trump's Appeal of Georgia Criminal Case

Race is a pervasive issue in the election interference case against Donald Trump in Georgia, brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Trump’s latest court filing in a preliminary appeal seeking Willis’s disqualification is a reminder that this issue is surfacing in a lawsuit, precisely.

At the very least, the former president — who exploited racism for political gain — wants it to be an issue that gets Willis kicked off the case or even gets it dismissed.

Recall that last March, Judge Scott McAfee refused to force Willis' removal. The defense had invoked a conflict of interest arising from her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. McAfee found no actual conflict, but said the appearance of impropriety required that either Willis or Wade resign, which the latter did.

In response to a separate defense request, related to Trump’s new court filing Monday, McAfee criticized a speech Willis gave at an Atlanta church that, the judge wrote in his March ruling, “had the effect of racially discrediting an indicted defendant’s decision to file this pretrial motion.” Still, the trial judge concluded that Willis did not cross the line to the point of denying a fair trial or requiring his disqualification.

The state criminal case, to which Trump has pleaded not guilty, has been stayed pending appeal, where that issue is at the center of the Republican presidential nominee's latest filing with the Georgia state appeals court. falsely “She claimed that the allegations against her were racist in order to hide the fact that they were true,” her lawyers wrote of the prosecutor, who is black. She “clearly intended that every potential juror in Fulton County who heard or read Willis’ racist speech would label the defendants as racist,” the lawyers added.

While McAfee criticized Willis in his decision, Trump’s lawyers argued in their appeal brief that “the trial judge’s mere verbal reprimand of Willis was wholly insufficient — it required disqualification.” In denying the defense’s request, McAfee wrote that Georgia’s law on alleged forensic misconduct is unclear on the relevant standard for determining disqualification. That could make it questionable how the courts will resolve the appeal, which has been scheduled for oral argument in December. If Willis and his office are disqualified, it would raise questions about when or even whether the case will be brought before a new prosecutor’s office.

Defending McAfee's position that led to her being kept on the case, Willis' office wrote earlier this month that the judge did not abuse his discretion “in finding that none of the district attorney's statements were likely to permanently compromise the fundamental fairness of any future trial and that, therefore, disqualification was not appropriate.”

To be sure, the disqualification issue is separate from the merits of the case, in which Trump and others were charged a year ago for their alleged attempts to subvert the 2020 presidential election in the state. And there are other issues to resolve before the case can go to trial, including the effect of the Supreme Court’s July 1 immunity ruling.

If Trump is elected in November, the focus could shift more to his state’s criminal cases, which presidents do not have the power to pardon or dismiss, as Trump’s lawyers seek to overturn New York’s guilty verdicts based on the immunity ruling. But whether Trump wins or loses in November, the fate of the Georgia case may not be clear for some time.

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