Donald Trump’s Court Hearing About Fani Willis Canceled

The Georgia Court of Appeals on Monday canceled the December 5 hearing for the appeal from President-elect Donald Trump and co-defendants to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case involving an alleged scheme to overturn the results of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.
The argument was canceled “until further order of this court.” It is unclear why the hearing was postponed.
Trump won the presidency in a historic comeback earlier this month, winning both the popular vote and Electoral College and defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
“The American people have re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate to Make America Great Again. It is now time, as President Trump said in his historic victory speech, to unify our country and work together for the betterment of our nation,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told Newsweek.
The appeals court was expected to hear arguments from Trump and his allies next month as part of its decision to review Judge Scott McAfee’s ruling earlier this year, which allowed Willis to continue prosecuting the case. The president-elect is facing 10 charges in Georgia. Eighteen of his allies were indicted alongside him in the sweeping racketeering case for their alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the Peach State.
Newsweek reached out to Willis via email for comment.
Monday’s announcement was an anti-climactic pause to the ongoing question of whether Willis should be removed from Trump’s Georgia election interference case because of her romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor Willis hired on the case.
The relationship between Willis and Wade was first disclosed in a January court filing from co-defendant Michael Roman, who alleged the improper relationship presented a conflict of interest for Willis. Roman claimed that the district attorney benefited from the relationship by using taxpayer funds for the office to pay for trips she took with Wade.
Willis and Wade later admitted they were romantically involved but said the relationship ended in the summer of 2023. They also denied claims that Willis benefited financially from the relationship.
The matter delved into a lengthy weeks-long proceeding in February, and McAfee, who is overseeing Trump’s case in Georgia, ruled that Willis would be allowed to remain on the case as long as Wade stepped down. Wade resigned from his position within hours of McAfee’s March decision. Although the judge did not remove Willis from the case, he criticized her over a “tremendous lapse in judgment.”
McAfee agreed to allow Trump and his co-defendants to appeal his decision, which they did shortly after.
Last month, Willis had asked the appeals court to reinstate six criminal charges against former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants. McAfee had dismissed them earlier this year after he found they were not specific enough for the defendants to properly prepare a defense. Willis countered in her appeal that her indictment “included an abundance of context and factual allegations about the solicitations at issue, including when the requests were made, to whom the requests were made, and the manner in which the requests were made.”
It is unclear what will happen to those charges at this time.
Update 11/18/24, 6:05 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 11/18/24, 6:50 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Steven Cheung.