Fulton County, Ga., Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over the case involving former President Donald Trump in Georgia and will soon decide whether District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified from the case, donated to Willis' campaign before Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) appointed him last year.
"McAfee, who was sworn in on Feb. 1, 2023, after being appointed by Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, made his donation in June 2020 while still working as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Department of Justice (DOJ), according to financial disclosures," reports the Daily Caller.
The New York Times revealed last year that McAfee worked under Willis when she led the complex trial division of the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office.
The donation may have been small, just $150, but according to Atlanta-based criminal defense attorney and legal analyst Philip Holloway, the donation still should have been disclosed so that the defendants could have determined “whether they believed that amounted to a conflict of interest on the part of the judge.”
“The donation itself is more or less a token amount and was made prior to his becoming a judge,” Holloway told the Daily Caller. “But failure to disclose to the defendants a political donation to the prosecutor can be seen as a present appearance of a conflict of interest. Judges are required to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest.”
However, Andrew Fleischman, a criminal defense attorney in Atlanta, disagreed that the donation should have been disclosed.
“It is such a routine part of how Georgia judges and attorneys interact that I don’t think it should have been disclosed, necessarily, past the mandatory disclosures,” he said.
Related: CONFIRMED: White House Communicated With Fulton County DA’s Office About Trump Case
According to the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct, judges should “avoid both impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in their professional and personal lives.” And for what it's worth, McAfee's actions in the courtroom, and his other political donations, don't raise red flags that he's acting like someone with a conflict of interest.
McAfee has not shied away from delivering unfavorable decisions to Willis, and reprimanded her several times for her behavior on the stand.
Last week, McAfee oversaw the hearing on Trump co-defendant Michael Roman’s motion to disqualify Willis. He previously declined the district attorney’s request to cancel the hearing.
McAfee’s other donations include $200 to Kemp’s campaign in 2018 and $200 to Republican state representative candidate Lyndsey Rudder’s campaign in 2020, according to financial disclosures. McAfee’s wife donated $99 to Willis’ campaign in 2020 and $101 in 2018.
During the primary, Willis was running against former Democratic Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard Jr.
“Specifically looking at defendant Roman’s motion, it alleges a personal relationship that resulted in a financial benefit to the district attorney. And that is no longer a matter of complete speculation. The state has admitted a relationship existed. And so, what remains to be proven is the existence and extent of any financial benefit," McAfee said last week. “So, because I think it's possible that the facts alleged by the defendant could result in disqualification, I think an evidentiary hearing must occur to establish the record on those core allegations.”
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