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Fulton County Judge Scott McAffee, who presides over the case against Trump (2017-2021) for the manipulation of the 2020 election results, determined that the "appearance of inappropriate conduct" in the relationship between both members of the prosecution results in Willis or Wade, whom she appointed for the trial, must be removed from the case.
This possibility between one or the other would allow Willis to proceed with the trial if Wade disassociates himself, thus the plans of Trump's defense to interrupt the work of the prosecution would not bear fruit.
"The record now established shows a significant appearance of inappropriate (conduct) that infects the current structure of the prosecution team," the judge noted in his 23-page ruling, which harshly criticizes the prosecutor.
That appearance, McAffee added, "must be eliminated by a selection by the prosecution with one of the two options."
The strategy of Trump's defense in this case was to force the recusal of the prosecutor for that alleged inappropriate romantic conduct.
Trump's legal team, the Republican candidate in this year's elections, criticized the judge's decision and assured that in the hearings in which he examined Willis's conduct it was proven that there were inappropriate economic exchanges with Wade and that the prosecutor, African American, showed disdain and racial bias in a speech in the church.
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In August 2023, Willis jumped to the forefront of public opinion by charging Trump and 18 other people with trying to manipulate the results of the 2020 elections in Georgia, where he lost by a narrow margin to the Democrat and current president, Joe Biden.
To charge Trump and his former allies, the prosecutor used the RICO law, known for being used against the mafia and used to ensure that the leaders of a criminal association, and not just their subordinates, are held accountable to justice.
McAffee dismissed six charges against the defendants this Thursday, but maintained the one of criminal association, the most serious.
To build the case, the most complex of the four criminal trials facing the former president, Willis had to hire several prosecutors, among them Wade, with whom she had a relationship for several months after his hiring and which ended in the summer of 2023, as they both insist.
The romance came to light by one of the defendants with Trump, campaign director Michael Roman, who denounced that Willis financially benefited from the election of Wade, as he allegedly took her on luxurious vacations that he paid for.
Both Willis and Wade have assured that they used to pay for trips and dinners in half. In addition, the prosecutor has indicated that she reimbursed her then partner in cash, with money she kept at home and that he did not deposit in the bank, an aspect that was thorny during the case.
The hearings were broadcast live by television networks across the country, showing Willis, the first African American woman elected as district attorney of Fulton County, in Atlanta, defiant and forceful as she was asked about her family economy, her love relationships or even her sex life.
The scrutiny of Willis represented an ideal legal situation for Trump as the credibility of the case was weakened and the start of the trial was delayed, in the midst of his legal strategy to delay as much as possible the criminal proceedings against him and avoid them being held before the presidential elections in November.