What to know about judge’s ruling allowing Fani Willis to stay on Trump’s Georgia election case

ATLANTA (AP) — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis can prosecute Donald Trump on charges that he interfered with Georgia’s 2020 election now that a special prosecutor with whom she had a romantic relationship has withdrawn from the case.

But the long-term impacts of allegations of impropriety that have roiled the case for weeks remain to be seen, with Trump and his allies certain to continue to attack the legitimacy of the prosecution against the former president and 18 others.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled Friday that Willis could stay if special prosecutor Nathan Wade left. That was a partial victory for Willis, whom defense attorneys had pushed to have removed from the case over her relationship Wade.

But the judge also rebuked Willis for her “tremendous” lapse in judgment and questioned the truthfulness of Wade’s and her testimony about the timing of their relationship.

It’s an extraordinary decision in a case that in recent weeks has taken on a soap opera atmosphere as the prosecutors who pledged to hold Trump accountable had their own personal lives thrust into the spotlight.

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