PBS News Hour

AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "NewsHour."

District attorney Fani Willis will# continue to lead the Georgia election## interference case against former President# Donald Trump.

But the top prosecutor,## a man she had a romantic relationship with,# is stepping aside.

His resignation came## after the judge said one of them had# to go for the trial to move forward.

This development was just one of many this week in# the multiple cases against the former president.

So, we turn again to our William# Brangham, who's been covering them all.

William, good to see you.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Great to see you.

AMNA NAWAZ: So the judge in th..

I'm not removing you, but your# lead prosecutor cannot stay on.

Help us understand the judge's rationale here.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The judge basically# split this right down the middle.

This is not what Trump and his lawyers# wanted.

They wanted Fani Willis taken## off the case and the whole case to be# dismissed.

That is not happening now.

McAfee, the judge, Scott McAfee, was very critical# of Willis and her behavior.

He wrote that romantic## relationship between her and, remember, her# handpicked prosecutor, Nathan Wade, created## -- quote -- "the appearance of impropriety" and# was a -- quote -- "tremendous lapse in judgment."

But he wrote that there was no# apparent conflict of interest,## which is what Trump and his allies had# alleged.

So, the judge said, Fani Willis,## you and your entire team have to# leave or Nathan Wade has to leave.

Wade left today, so the case will proceed.

So# this has definitely left an almost indelible## ethical stain on her and her judgment and# her office.

But it doesn't really change## the fundamental legal case that she's# brought against Trump and his allies.

AMNA NAWAZ: So Willis stays on.

But on those legal fundamentals, this# is the s.. week tossed out six of the charges that# Willis had filed against Mr. Trump and## his associates.

What should we# know about what happened there?

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Right.

.. this is the case about election# interference in Georgia.

And these## charges involved allegations that# Trump and his cohort were pressuring## state elections officials to violate their# constitutional oaths of office by basically## making it so that Joe Biden did not# win Georgia, when he, in fact, did.

The judge agreed that there# was some of that vagueness,## and he squashed six of those charges.

That does# leave 30 or something other charges that are part## of this much vaster conspiracy indictment that# she has brought against Trump and his allies,## alleging this vast conspiracy to stop# Georgia's votes going to Joe Biden.

So that case will go forward, but there# is no trial date set for that yet.

AMNA NAWAZ: OK, I want to ask you about# another case.

This is the so-called## hush money case in New York involving# Stormy Daniels.

That was supposed to## be the trial that went first.

It's# now been delayed another 30 days.

What should we understand# about what's happening here?

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Yes, this one# really was a bit of a surprise.

Just to recap, this is the case that was brought# by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg,## alleging that Stormy Daniels,# who is this former adult actress,## was -- she was going to bring a story to# light back in 2016 during the campaign.## Trump's fixer Michael Cohen paid her# $130,000 to stay quiet about that.

That trial and that they -- the# allegation that they fudged their## financial records to hide that payment, that# was supposed to start a week from Monday,## but now this 30-day delay.

Why was that# delay?

It's suddenly because they are## now receiving hundreds of thousands of pages of# evidence from federal prosecutors in New York.

This was part of their 2018 case against# Michael Cohen for financial crimes.

So## the main question here is, why is it# that it took federal prosecutors all## this time to give up this evidence to# the Manhattan DA and to Donald Trump?## Because they asked -- they were asked for this# evidence, I believe it was almost a year ago.

So, many former prosecutors are wondering# what the hiccup was here.

I talked to## one very senior former Department of# Justice official from New York.

He was## quite lacerating in his criticism,# calling this an inexcusable lapse.

Now, with this delay, that trial probably# won't start until the middle of April.

AMNA NAWAZ: OK.

Meanwhile, down in Florida, another case there, that is the one involving former President# Trump's handling of classified documents.

The Trump team this week tried# to get that case thrown out.## The judge dismissed that.

What did she rule?

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: This is Judge Aileen Cannon.# This is the classified documents case that's## alleging that Donald Trump basically# held all of these classified documents,## lied about them, and then obstructed# justice in that investigation.

Trump and their team, they have been filing# motions in all of their different cases.

This is## part of their strategy to push all of these trials# off as long as possible, to delay them, push them## even past the election.

In this case, the judge# ruled that one of their motions was inexcusable.

She said -- I think it was -- the term was that# it's extraordinary, was the word she used.

She did## leave open the possibility that that motion# could be brought back up during trial.

But,## for now, she seemed to express a great deal# of skepticism towards Trump's arguments.

So this case is still a very, very long ways away,## probably not going to happen# before the November election.

AMNA NAWAZ: William Brangham,# thank you so much for staying## on top of all of these trials and# explaining it all.

Appreciate it.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: My pleasure.