Blayne Alexander

Lawyers for former President Donald Trump and eight of his co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case on Friday asked a state appeals court to allow them to challenge a recent ruling that didn’t disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting the case. “The Georgia Court of Appeals should grant the application and accept the interlocutory appeal for consideration on the merits,” Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead attorney in Georgia, told NBC News in a statement Frida…

A judge on Wednesday gave former President Donald Trump and eight of his co-defendants permission to appeal the order allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to remain on the Georgia election interference case despite their allegations of misconduct. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee granted a certificate of immediate review, citing Trump and his co-defendants’ argument that McAfee’s decision to keep Willis on the case “is of such importance to the case that immediate…

ATLANTA — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump and seven of his co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case are seeking a review of a Georgia judge’s decision not to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. The request was filed Monday after Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said Friday morning that Willis would be allowed to stay on the racketeering case she brought against Trump if Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she appointed to the case, resi…

ATLANTA — A Georgia judge ruled Friday that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should not be disqualified from prosecuting the racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and several co-defendants — with one major condition. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee found the “appearance of impropriety” brought about by Willis’ romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade should result in either Willis and her office leaving the case — or just Wade, whom…

ATLANTA — Georgia was the site of Democrats’ biggest breakthrough in the 2020 election, with Joe Biden becoming the party’s first presidential nominee to win the state in 28 years. But four years later, some of the organizers who helped orchestrate the history-making victory acknowledge Democrats face an uphill climb to keep the state blue as they prepare for a rematch with Donald Trump. “This is certainly not going to be a walk in the park,” said LaTosha Brown, a co-founder of the voting righ…

ATLANTA — A Republican-led Senate panel in Georgia is moving forward with the public part of its investigation into Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis that could eventually lead to the Democratic DA’s being subpoenaed to testify. The state Senate’s Special Committee on Investigations has already issued a subpoena to Ashleigh Merchant, the defense attorney who has been leading efforts to remove Willis from the election interference case against former President Donald Trump. Merchant, th…

ATLANTA — An attorney for one of former President Donald Trump’s co-defendants in Georgia wants the judge presiding over a misconduct motion against the Fulton County district attorney to hear testimony from a new witness about when DA Fani Willis began her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor in the election interference case. In a court filing Monday, attorneys for Trump co-defendant David Shafer said the potential witness, a co-chief deputy district attorney with the Cobb County…

Former President Donald Trump’s legal team on Friday filed proposed supplemental information consisting of an analysis of cell phone records from before Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade said their relationship began. Criminal defense investigator Charles Mittelstadt wrote in an affidavit that Willis and Wade made more than 2,000 calls and had just under 12,000 interactions during an 11-month period in 2021. He also analyzed Wade’s phone connection to…

ATLANTA — A group of attorneys and ethics experts has filed a motion defending Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as former President Donald Trump urges the court to remove her from his Georgia election interference case. In the court filing, 17 signers argued that the allegations that Willis benefited financially from a personal relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade do not constitute grounds for removal. “We have no independent knowledge whether there was a personal relation…

ATLANTA — A cyberattack that hit government systems in Fulton County, Georgia, over the weekend affected the offices of the district attorney who is prosecuting former President Donald Trump on election interference charges, local officials said Monday. All desktop phones, intranet and devices using county servers are down for all departments, including District Attorney Fani Willis’ office, said a county official with knowledge of the situation. County employees received an email notification…

ATLANTA — Officials investigating the recent cyberattack on Fulton County government systems are seeking to determine whether there is any connection to the election interference case against former President Donald Trump in Georgia, a county official with knowledge of the situation said. So far, there has been no proof of a connection, the official said. The hack did not affect material related to the case against Trump and more than a dozen co-defendants, said a spokesperson for District Attor…

ATLANTA — Former President Jimmy Carter is in Atlanta, expected to attend services Monday and Tuesday honoring the late first lady Rosalynn Carter, according to a source with knowledge of his whereabouts. The former president is expected to attend a ceremony on Monday at the Carter Center as well as services on Tuesday at Emory University, but the source cautioned that it depends on how well he rests and how he is feeling. A spokesperson for the Carter Center confirmed separately on Monday that…

A federal judge in Atlanta ruled Thursday that Georgia’s redrawn congressional maps violate the Voting Rights Act and gave the state’s lawmakers until Dec. 8 to submit new ones. “In the event that the State is unable or unwilling to enact remedial plans by December 8, 2023, that satisfy the requirements set forth above, the Court will proceed to draw or adopt remedial plans” so they’ll be ready in time for the 2024 elections, U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones wrote in his 516-page ruling. He ad…

ATLANTA — A prisoner was fatally stabbed and at least two others were injured Thursday at Georgia’s Fulton County Jail, a spokesperson said. Fulton County sheriff’s spokesperson Natalie Ammons said there had been multiple stabbings at the facility in Atlanta. All of the injured were being detained at the jail, Ammons said. “The situation has ended and it is under investigation,” she said in an update Thursday evening. More details were not immediately available. It’s the second death of someone…

ATLANTA — Law enforcement officials are anticipating that former President Donald Trump will surrender at a Fulton County, Georgia, jail no earlier than Thursday, three senior law enforcement officials who are familiar with the plan said. These officials, who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the plan, said they expect the surrender to happen late in the week. Plans are still being finalized and the sources stressed that nothing is official yet. An att…

Unlike his previous court appearances, if Trump is brought into a Georgia courtroom the proceedings are likely to be broadcast live on TV.

ATLANTA — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is investigating former President Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn his election loss in Georgia, is expected to present her case to a grand jury next week. NBC News spoke to two individuals who have been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury as part of the Georgia prosecutor’s investigation. The subpoenas noted that each witness will receive at least 48 hours’ notice to appear before the grand jury. Former state Sen. Jen Jo…

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has indicated that indictments in her 2020 election interference probe will be issued this month.

ATLANTA — Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney investigating Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, shared a racist threat she had received as her office prepares to make charging decisions in the probe. Willis forwarded the threat, noting it was one of many, in an email to Fulton County commissioners that was obtained by NBC News. In the email, Willis urged commissioners to “stay alert” and “stay safe” ahead of potential indictments this month. The e-mail…

A Georgia judge on Monday denied an attempt by Donald Trump to halt Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s investigation into whether the former president and his allies interfered in the state’s 2020 presidential election, calling his allegations of wrongdoing in the probe “overwrought.” In a nine-page ruling Monday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney found that neither Trump nor Cathleen Latham, a Trump “alternate elector” challenging the probe, had legal standing to blo…