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A Georgia judge on Monday will decide whether to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the election fraud case against former President Donald Trump due to her romantic relationship with a special counsel later this week. The court ruled there will be at least two days of potentially explosive televised hearings. She hired him to oversee it.
But Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee also called on the lawyers seeking to dismiss Willis Wade and Nathan Wade, and to throw out the cases entirely, for tarnishing their reputations with unproven allegations. He warned that any attempt to do so would not be tolerated.
“If there is any reference to harassment or undue embarrassment, I am comfortable intervening, even without objections from attorneys, to move the matter forward and maintain focus on the issue at hand,” McAfee said. said this during an emergency hearing that lasted about two hours on Monday.
Although he stressed that he has not yet seen any evidence that the allegations are true, McAfee’s decision is a big deal for Willis and Wade, who have aggressively fought through their lawyers to stop the hearing and avoid testifying. It was a setback.
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Fani Willis and Special Counsel Nathan Wade admit to ‘personal relationship’
McAfee filed an emergency hearing to allow lawyers for Mr. Wade, Mr. Willis and other potential witnesses to rescind subpoenas ordering their clients to testify at an evidentiary hearing scheduled for Thursday. was held.
Mr. Wade and Mr. Willis, in particular, have already maintained that they did nothing wrong and that the high-profile prosecution of Mr. Trump and his 14 co-defendants should proceed.
Both acknowledged in recent court filings that they had a “personal relationship,” or romantic relationship, but Willis hired a little-known private attorney to discuss the high-profile case. He said it started after he joined the prosecutor’s office to get back. In November 2021.
more:Why Nathan Wade, under fire for his alleged affair with Fani Willis, is facing new scrutiny
“Disqualify” option
McAfee said that given that Willis and Wade have acknowledged their relationship, what is “yet unproven” is that former Trump campaign official Michael Roman, who was also indicted on conspiracy charges, The question is whether Mr Willis derived any financial benefit from it, as he claimed last month. The move is to illegally overturn Trump’s 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia.
“Therefore, I think the facts asserted by the defendant could lead to disqualification, and I think an evidentiary hearing needs to be held to establish the record regarding these core allegations,” McAfee said. Ta.
McAfee said both Willis and Wade are likely to testify at the hearing, which could drag into Friday or longer due to procedural disputes and attempts to introduce and rebut the allegations. He suggested that there was.
more:Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis breaks silence about prosecutors in Donald Trump case
Will the court hear from witnesses about when the incident began?
One of the key issues to be tried at trial is whether Willis benefited financially from his relationship with Wade.
Mr. Roman’s lawyer, Ashley Merchant, will use some of the more than $650,000 that Mr. Wade received as special prosecutor to take Mr. Willis on vacations to California wine country, Florida and Caribbean cruises. He claimed to have used it for. Most recently, Merchant claimed that the case began before Willis hired Wade, creating a conflict of interest that irreparably tainted the case.
On Monday, Fulton County Prosecutor Anna Cross told a judge that Merchant was either making things up or was making a mistake.
“I would be shocked if Miss Merchant could stand by that statement. Shocked,” Ms Cross said. “I don’t believe that’s true.”
‘Shock’ if the suspicions are true
Cross told the judge that many of the other claims made by Roman and lawyers for other defendants, including Trump himself, in a flurry of recent filings are false. He said the defense’s attempts to subpoena and cross-examine as many as nine prosecutors and security officials involved in the Trump case or close to Wade and Willis were essentially “wild speculation.” The fishing expedition was based on information from a third party. hearsay.
Mr. Cross also reiterated that Mr. Wade and Mr. Willis split the cost of the trip 50-50 and did not use taxpayer money paid to Mr. Wade and his law firm to pay for the vacation in compensation for the Mr. Trump lawsuit. And she said prosecutors hope to have Willis’ father testify remotely from California on Thursday to refute some of the allegations, including that Willis and Wade lived together at key points in their relationship. It was revealed that there was.
Merchant countered that the witnesses she called did have information “relevant” to the allegations, and that Wade was living with Willis in a county-funded safe house where he lived for the threat. . Mr. Wade’s former business associates also said they were prepared to testify that their relationship predated Mr. Willis’ hiring of Mr. Wade.
McAfee said he will decide many of those issues Thursday, including who will testify, as well as whether and when the district attorney himself will take the stand.
The Washington Post reported late Monday that Trump himself may appear at the hearing, citing two people with knowledge of his intentions. During Monday’s hearing, President Trump’s lawyer Steve Sadow asked for a private, or “ex-side,” conversation with the judge about unspecified issues. Sadow subsequently did not comment on the Post’s report, telling USA TODAY only that it was “speculation.”
“Don’t get excited yet,” he added.
The prosecutor’s dirty laundry
If the defense has its way and is allowed to cross-examine witnesses, Thursday’s hearing will be broadcast live on television and details of Willis’ relationship with Wade, who is married but divorced, will be made available to the public. There is a possibility that the details will be broadcast in detail.
Mr. McAfee has indicated, at Mr. Roman’s request, that he is willing to hear at least some of these allegations before deciding whether to disqualify Mr. Willis, Mr. Wade or the entire DA’s office. It seems like it is.
“I want to emphasize that the question here is whether a relationship existed, whether it was romantic or non-romantic in nature, when it was formed, and whether it continued I think it’s about whether there are any,” McAfee said. “And that’s relevant because it’s combined with the question of the existence and extent of personal interests that are conveyed as a result of their relationship.”
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