Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks during a worship service at the Big Bethel AME Church in Atlanta. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
In his order, McAfee separately took issue with a speech made by Willis at an Atlanta church in January of this year, when she claimed she and Wade were being scrutinized because of their race.
While Willis later claimed not to be referring to the defendants in her accusations of racism, McAfee warned that such a distinction was not clear.
"In these public and televised comments, the District Attorney complained that a Fulton County Commissioner 'and so many others' questioned her decision to hire SADA Wade. When referring to her detractors throughout the speech, she frequently utilized the plural 'they.' The State argues the speech was not aimed at any of the Defendants in this case. Maybe so. But maybe not. Therein lies the danger of public comment by a prosecuting attorney," McAfee wrote.
KEY WITNESS IN FANI WILLIS CASE TESTIFIES HE MAY HAVE LIED IN TEXTS ABOUT FRIENDS' AFFAIR
Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, previously said the allegations brought against her of having an "improper" romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade were made because she is Black. (Getty Images)
Despite finding Willis's speech "legally improper," McAfee ruled that the questionable statements regarding race did not deny the defendants "opportunity for a fundamentally fair trial."
"The Court cannot find that this speech crossed the line to the point where the Defendants have been denied the opportunity for a fundamentally fair trial, or that it requires the District Attorney’s disqualification," McAfee wrote. "But it was still legally improper. Providing this type of public comment creates dangerous waters for the District Attorney to wade further into."
It has not yet been announced whether Willis will fire Wade or step down from the trial.
Timothy Nerozzi is a writer for Fox News Digital. You can follow him on Twitter @timothynerozzi and can email him at timothy.nerozzi@fox.com
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