Lessons learned from the harsh ruling that allowed prosecutor Fani Willis to continue serving in the Trump election destruction case in Georgia

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Judge Scott McAfee allows Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to proceed with her election destruction case against Donald Trump, but she will not try Willis and Wade herself over her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. After two embarrassing months, he was forced to lose the case.

This is technically a legal victory because Willis, along with his entire office, could continue to prosecute Trump and 14 others.

But McAfee’s 23-page opinion was a scathing condemnation of the district attorney’s actions, and it remains unclear whether Trump will face trial by November for his actions after the 2020 presidential election.

McAfee ruled that one of Wade and Willis should step down from the case, saying there was “a lingering whiff of deceit” in their relationship. Wade sent his resignation just hours later, saying he was resigning “in the interests of democracy, my dedication to the American people, and to move this case forward as quickly as possible.”

Here are the takeaways from Friday’s ruling:

Willis survived, but the prosecutor and her case were injured

Although Willis survived the disqualification motion, the detour surrounding his relationship with Wade was a challenge both to the courtroom, where potential jurors would be familiar with the episode, and to the broader public, who would vote on whether to reinstate him. left a stain on her lawsuit. President Trump visited the White House in November.

McAfee was highly critical of Willis and Wade’s relationship, stating that it was the result of “bad choices.”

But, he wrote, “Georgia law does not permit a finding of actual conflict simply by making a wrong choice, even if it is made repeatedly.”

Their relationship was thrown into the center of a lawsuit in January when co-defendant Mike Roman filed a motion to disbar Willis for an alleged “inappropriate” relationship.

Over several hearings, McAfee heard testimony about their relationship and payments made by Wade for trips they took together, but the defendants said the district attorney had not profited financially from their relationship. Willis said he had repaid Wade in cash.

Willis and Wade both appeared on the stand at an unusual moment when Willis said he wanted to go to court to testify and gave an exasperated response to the lawyer who brought the charges.

In Friday’s ruling, the judge called Willis’ fiery testimony “unprofessional.”

“This finding does not in any way permit the court to condone this serious error of judgment or the unprofessional manner in which the District Attorney testified during the evidentiary hearing,” the judge wrote.

Friday’s ruling represents a partial victory for the former president, who has delayed four criminal trials and sought to turn the tide on prosecutors who brought the charges.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers have made extensive efforts and succeeded in delaying all four criminal trials that could keep the former president from campaigning this year.

President Trump’s election destruction lawsuit is pending in Washington, where the Supreme Court will hear arguments in April over the former president’s immunity claims. A judge appointed by President Trump is expected to set a new trial date in the Florida classified documents case in the coming days, after holding a hearing two weeks ago to discuss the timing.

And in New York, where President Trump’s first criminal trial was scheduled to begin within two weeks, a judge on Friday decided to hold the trial at least until April after tens of thousands of pages of new evidence were turned over by U.S. prosecutors. It was postponed until the middle of the year. Manhattan office.

Delay is not the only opportunity to defend Trump. His team also found a way to shift the focus from Trump’s dozens of criminal charges to undermining the prosecutors who prosecuted him and sowing distrust in the legal system itself.

“When inconsistencies become visible to the public’s rational eye, confidence in the legal system itself is threatened,” McAfee wrote Friday. “If this danger is not remedied, it will undermine the legitimacy and moral strength of our already weakest government institutions.”

McAfee pointed to the timing of Wade and Willis’ relationship, which the defendants claim began before Wade was hired in 2021, and when they went on a trip together. He said questions remained about the payments made by Mr. Wade.

However, it was determined that there was no conclusive evidence of the allegations against them.

“A reasonable question as to whether the district attorney and her hand-picked lead SADA gave false testimony about the timing of their relationship is a question of whether the district attorney and her handpicked lead SADA gave false testimony about the timing of their relationship,” McAfee wrote. This is further evidence of the need to make reasonable efforts.”

But McAfee added, “Ultimately, dismissal of the charges is not an adequate remedy to adequately dispel the financial cloud of fraud and potential misrepresentation seen here.”

McAfee wrote that the key factors were evidence showing that Willis’ testimony and financial benefits from Wade were “not an incentive on the part of the district attorney to prosecute and prosecute this case.” .

Ms. McAfee said that although she had no record of payments that Ms. Willis made to Mr. Wade to pay for their vacations together, her claim that she had repaid Mr. Wade in cash was “essentially implausible.” It’s not that incredible.”

“Defendant has not presented sufficient evidence to show that the costs were not ‘approximately equally’ distributed,” the judge wrote.

In Friday’s ruling, McAfee made clear that if Wade continues with his lawsuit, there will continue to be a perception that his lawsuit against Trump and others is an “infringement of influence.”

The judge gave Willis the option of removing himself or Wade from the case, but he doesn’t really have a choice. If Willis instead chooses to remove himself from the case, the case will be transferred to the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys Council for reassignment. Depending on who takes over, a complex extortion case could go fatally derailed.

“An outsider could reasonably believe that the district attorney was not exercising independent professional judgment without any compromising influence. As long as Wade remains involved in the case, this unnecessary The recognition will continue,” McAfee wrote.

The judge reprimanded Wade for not disclosing his relationship with Willis in divorce proceedings, suggesting that Wade may continue to hide any financial or romantic relationships with Willis, even though he says their relationship ended last year. He suggested that this is creating a public perception.

“Wade’s clearly unconvincing explanation for the inaccurate cross-examination he filed during his pending divorce demonstrates an unwarranted attempt on his part to conceal his relationship with the district attorney,” McAfee wrote. . “As the case progresses, a reasonable member of the public may wonder whether the financial exchange continues to benefit the district attorney in some way, or even whether the romantic relationship has been resumed. It will be.”

In his resignation letter to Willis on Friday, Wade said he was proud of the team’s work.

“Promoting the rule of law and democracy is, and always has been, the north star of our collective efforts in prosecuting those who allegedly sought to overturn the results of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.” he said.

In accepting Wade’s resignation, Willis expressed gratitude for the former special counsel’s work.

“I will always remember, and I remind you all, that you courageously came forward to investigate and prosecute the allegations that the defendants in this case were involved in a conspiracy to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election. “I will never forget the challenge,” Willis wrote.

“I commend you for the professionalism and dignity you have shown over the past 865 days as you endured threats against you and your family and unwarranted attacks on your reputation as a lawyer in the media and in court,” she added. . ”

McAfee on Friday repeatedly reprimanded the district attorney’s actions, writing that Willis’ comments about the incident at an Atlanta-area church in January were “legally inappropriate.”

He also warned of a future gag order against Willis.

In a speech earlier this year, Willis defended Wade, suggesting he may have been targeted because he is “black.”

The January speech was one of several episodes cited by defendants seeking to disqualify Mr. Willis, who argue that he openly went after Mr. Trump and his co-defendants and could harm the case. did.

Mr. Willis said in a subsequent court filing that when he made those remarks he was not referring to criticism from Mr. Trump and other defendants in the election subversion case.

McAfee said the comments were a far cry from a jury trial and “will not create a lasting stain on the jury pool,” adding, “The court did not find that this speech crossed the line beyond repudiating the defendant’s claims.” I cannot confirm that it has been exceeded.” Essentially, it requires a fair trial opportunity or the disqualification of the district attorney. ”

“However, it was still legally inappropriate,” McAfee said in Friday’s ruling. “Providing this type of public comment creates dangerous territory for the district attorney to tread further into.”

Regarding the possibility of a gag order, the judge said: “In order to prevent adverse publicity, it may be time to issue an order prohibiting the state from referring to this case in any public forum, but that is currently not before the courts.” No charges have been filed,” he added.

CNN’s Devan Cole, Jason Morris and Nick Valencia contributed to this report.

This story has been updated with additional developments.