Prosecutor withdraws from Trump case over relationship with attorney

THE former lover of the embattled Georgia district attorney prosecuting Donald Trump over alleged election interference has withdrawn from the case.

Nathan Wade tendered his resignation after Judge Scott McAfee ruled Fani Willis, the district attorney who brought the indictment, could only continue to lead the prosecution if her former partner withdrew from the team.

Ms Willis faced an effort to disqualify her by Mr Trump and his co-defendants after it emerged she was romantically involved with Mr Wade, a special prosecutor leading the case. The defendants had argued Ms Willis had improperly benefited from the romance.

Judge Scott McAfee found the “allegations and evidence legally insufficient” to support their claims of “an actual conflict of interest”. However, he said there remained an “appearance of impropriety” and demanded that Ms Willis either step aside from the case, along with her entire team, or remove Mr Wade before the case can proceed.

“Put differently, an outsider could reasonably think that the District Attorney is not exercising her independent professional judgment totally free of any compromising influences. As long as Wade remains on the case, this unnecessary perception will persist,” he wrote. The ruling is a setback for Mr Trump, but Ms Willis has also emerged with a bruised reputation that could taint her in the eyes of a potential jury.

Mike Pence, Donald Trump’s former vice-president, has said he cannot “in good conscience” endorse the presumptive Republican nominee. Mr Pence, who had been one of Mr Trump’s most loyal backers, said the former president was following policies “at odds with the conservative agenda”.