This comes as the Court of Appeals evaluates the role of State Attorney Fanny Willis.
The short version
- Trump was accused of trying to change the election results in Georgia in 2020.
- Trump's lawyers demanded that Attorney General Fanny Willis be removed from the case because of her relationship with Attorney General Nathan Wade.
- In March, a judge ruled that Willis could continue if Wade withdrew, which he did.
- Trump's lawyers appealed the decision, and the Court of Appeals ruled that the case should be suspended until Willis's role was investigated.
- This is being referred to as a victory for Trump.
Trump, who was recently convicted of forging documents, is accused, among other things, of trying to pressure election officials to give him victory in the presidential elections that took place in the state nearly four years ago.
But the case itself has been overshadowed by what is referred to as a soap opera in the American media:
- Trump's defenders are demanding that Attorney General Fanny Willis be removed from the case because she had an affair with Attorney General Nathan Wade.
- The background to the mess is that Fanny Willis put Wade in charge of the investigation against Trump – while they were in a relationship.
Background: The case that could save Donald Trump
Conflict of interest
The deciding factor in the case was whether Willis received a financial benefit from paying Wade at the same time the two began an affair.
In February, Wade received more than NOK 6.8 million for leading the investigation against Trump since Wade was appointed in 2021.
Trump's lawyers argued that the relationship constituted a conflict of interest, and noted that some of the money Wade received for the job was used to take Willis on “primitive vacations.”
Willis and Wade said their relationship did not affect the investigation.
A judge ruled last March that Willis could continue if Wade resigned, but Trump appealed that decision.
The Court of Appeal has now decided to postpone the criminal case until the appeal is heard.
CNN He points to the decision as a major victory for Trump, who has an interest in the trial not being decided before the presidential election in November.
Leaked call
Part of the indictment against Trump in Georgia revolves around a conversation he had with the state's chief election official, Brad Raffensperger, while counting votes after the 2020 election.
A recording of the conversation was later leaked, in which Trump can be heard asking Raffensperger to “find” 11,780 votes. This was enough to give Trump victory in the swing state.
The case in Georgia is one of the most dangerous for Trump because it relates to an attempt to cancel the US presidential elections. It is punishable by imprisonment for a period ranging from five to twenty years.
“Organizer. Social media geek. General communicator. Bacon scholar. Proud pop culture trailblazer.”