Georgia Judge Scott McAfee is expected to issue a decision today over whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is disqualified from working on President Trump’s ongoing election case in the state.
An alleged affair between Willis and prosecutor Nathan Wade caused an uproar in the case, which initially focused on charges against President Trump, his associates, and their response to the 2020 election results. But Willis stole the spotlight in recent months as questions about financial transactions and the timing of her relationship with Wade came under scrutiny.
Ashleigh Merchant, one of the defense attorneys, filed a motion to disqualify Willis—provoking an angry and highly televised testimony from the district attorney in February. While she received some support, many observers panned her testimony and called for her to part ways with the case.
Contrast that with the praise she received in 2023 when Time Magazine said it was considering her for its person of the year.
Wade and Willis both testified that they took vacations together, which were booked on Mr. Wade’s credit card. However, Ms. Willis claimed she paid her half of the expenses either by taking turns making purchases or through large cash reimbursements.
Key to Judge McAfee’s decision is what standard of law to follow. Defense attorneys have asserted that the appearance of impropriety alone warrants disqualification while prosecutors argue that proof of forensic misconduct is necessary to show a conflict of interest and that the defense has not met that burden.
Six of the 41 counts were dropped by Judge McAfee on March 13. The counts alleged that the defendants solicited members of the Georgia Senate and Georgia House, the Georgia House Speaker, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to violate oaths of office in trying to certify alternate electors or “influence the certified election returns.”

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Ga., on March 1, 2024. Alex Slitz/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
If Willis is disqualified, she could appeal against the decision while the trial would likely face delay. The Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia would have to select a new prosecutor, who could decide not to proceed with the case.
A new prosecutor could also reopen the investigation, potentially delaying the trial for months.
President Trump criticized Willis and called for an end to the case. “The stench of what has happened should shame Georgia no longer,” he said on TruthSocial.
Three other criminal cases were brought against Trump. He said on TruthSocial that discovery in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office would “make Fani and her ‘lover’ look like small potatoes.”
–Sam Dorman and Catherine Yang
CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS JUDGE SAYS ‘NO’ TO DISMISSING COUNTS
Judge Aileen Cannon rejected a motion to dismiss 32 counts in President Donald Trump’s classified documents case shortly after a hearing on March 14. Trump had argued that the first 32 counts should be removed based on unconstitutional vagueness.
Just two of many motions to dismiss were considered during the hearing. Judge Cannon has not yet decided on another motion surrounding whether President Trump had the right to designate the documents personal, if he did do so, and if that designation under the Presidential Records Act (PRA) would supersede charges based on the Espionage Act.
The defense argued that by taking the documents from the White House, Trump had designated these records as “personal.”
Another decision is expected soon as Judge Cannon said that she would issue orders on the motions “promptly.”
Trump can still raise arguments from the vagueness motion, which was dismissed without prejudice. Judge Cannon said it seemed “premature” to bring in facts from outside of the indictment pretrial—such as whether the records in President Trump’s possession were “personal records.”
Trump is facing 37 counts, with his valet and Mar-a-Lago property manager, following an FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago in 2022. The indictment alleged Trump retained classified documents he had been subpoenaed to return.
The trial date is still to be determined while Trump’s other criminal cases hit delays in court. March 14’s hearing came on the same day Manhattan prosecutors agreed to a 30-day adjournment in Trump’s hush money hearing.
Trump’s D.C. trial has been delayed indefinitely as the Supreme Court weighs the former president’s motion to dismiss based on presidential immunity—an issue that could affect both the Florida and New York cases. In Georgia, Judge Scott McAfee is expected to rule on whether to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, potentially setting the trial date back for months.
–Catherine Yang, Sam Dorman, Jacob Burg, and T.J. Muscaro
GOP HOUSE MEMBERS SLAM SCHUMER OVER NETANYAHU COMMENTS
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va.—House Republicans quickly condemned calls made by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down and order new elections.
Speaking on the Senate floor yesterday, Schumer said that Netanyahu had “lost his way” and was one of several “major obstacles” to peace in the region.

Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) (L) speaks as House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) (R) listens during a House GOP leadership news conference at the Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., on March 14, 2024. Alex Wong/Getty Images
“I believe in his heart his highest priority is the security of Israel. However, I also believe Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel,” Schumer said.
Republicans, during their annual retreat at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, were quick to condemn and reject the calls.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) called the demand that Netanyahu step down “highly inappropriate” during a press conference following the remarks.
“It’s just plain wrong for an American leader to play such a divisive role in Israeli politics while our closest ally in the region is in an existential battle for its very survival,” Johnson said.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), speaking at the same conference, agreed, equating Schumer’s call with an attempt “for the U.S. to meddle in Israel’s elections.”
The sentiment was echoed by Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) during a later press conference, calling Schumer’s comments “out of step” with Congress’ bipartisan support for Israel.
“That’s not Chuck Schumer’s job, [or] our job,” Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) agreed. “That’s election interference.”
House Republicans also heard from Michael Herzog, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, during the retreat.
In a post on X, Herzog made clear that he also opposes Schumer’s comments, which he called “unhelpful” and “counterproductive.”
“Israel is a sovereign democracy,” Herzog wrote. “It is unhelpful, all the more so as Israel is at war against the genocidal terror organization Hamas, to comment on the domestic political scene of a democratic ally. It is counterproductive to our common goals.”
Schumer’s comments come as the issue of the war in Israel has divided Democrats, with younger more progressive members characterizing it as a “genocide.”
—Joseph Lord
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- Biden meets with Ireland’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at the White House for St. Patrick’s Day on March 17.
- A Georgia judge is expected to rule on whether DA Fani Willis should be disqualified from the Trump election case.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has agreed to a 30-day delay of the trial for his falsification of business records case against former President Donald Trump, The Epoch Times’ Tom Ozimek reports. Judge Juan Merchan, who originally slated the start date for March 25, will need to sign off on the change.
A federal court has rejected former Trump White House aide Peter Navarro’s bid to delay his four-month prison sentence while he appeals his conviction, The Epoch Times’ Zachary Steiber reports. The ruling comes days before Navarro is required to report to prison.
American taxpayers are footing the bill for tens of thousands of illegal immigrants’ health care costs, The Epoch Times’ Autumn Spredemann reports. The uncompensated costs have spiked alongside the number of illegal immigrants pouring across the southern border, totaling more than $5 billion in 2022.
Text messages obtained by Judicial Watch show that the CIA assisted in the government’s response to a pipe bomb found outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, The Epoch Times’ Joseph Hanneman reports. The records are the first documented references to the CIA’s involvement in the response to the events of that day.
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) influence and infiltration efforts in the United States will be the focus of a new “government-wide” investigation by the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, The Epoch Times’ John Haughey reports. The goal of the probe will be to determine the best strategies for thwarting the CCP’s nefarious operations.
Speaker Johnson expects to pass a future Ukraine aid bill with help of Democrats, Politico reports. The bill, Johnson said, could come up as a stand-alone bill or in a package that includes assistance for Israel in its war with Hamas.