The end of the Fani Willis affair

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee Opinions on page 23 It reads like a chapter from a paperback novel found in an airport kiosk. An affair between two prosecutors in charge of a high-profile case. A whiff of romantic trips, dinners, extramarital sex, and lies told under oath in open court. But despite McAfee’s indiscretion, he ruled that District Attorney Fani Willis will continue to serve as Trump’s prosecutor.

Of course, this case is actually about Donald Trump and eight others scheduled to go on trial in Fulton County, Georgia, on state RICO conspiracy charges for trying to overturn the 2020 election. President Trump’s infamous phone call The crux of the certification is that he asked Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to help state officials find the 11,780 votes needed to put Georgia in his column.

Instead of defending the case on its merits, Trump’s defendants sought to distract and delay the trial in order to postpone it until after the election. Whether they succeed or not is another story.

The federal case in Washington has been in turmoil over motion practices all the way to the Supreme Court, and the Mar-a-Lago documents case in Florida was postponed by a ruling by pro-Trump Judge Eileen Cannon, while the Georgia case has been delayed by defendant 4. Things were progressing smoothly as people continued to argue. Judge McAfee denied a motion to dismiss the core charges in the indictment.

Then the dust hit the fan. The nine defendants in the case all benefited financially from Willis’ romantic relationship with Special District Attorney Nathan Wade, who was personally contracted to lead the prosecution team, and who had personal interests in Willis. He filed a lawsuit seeking to have the charges dismissed and his license disqualified. The court found that the district attorney hired Wade on November 1, 2021 and agreed to pay him $250 an hour. This is a low hourly rate for a lawyer in his specialty. There was also a contractual cap of up to 60 hours per month.

It is not clear on record when the romantic relationship began or ended. Willis and Wade testified that it began after Wade was hired, but there were hints in the record that it began much earlier. Judge McAfee found that by a preponderance of the evidence neither side could establish a deadline.

Prosecutors are also human beings and are subject to the sins of the flesh like everyone else. It may therefore be easy to dismiss the defense motion as a diversion, an exercise in legal tricks, to delay the day of reckoning.

The tactic was typical of Donald Trump, demonizing prosecutors. Turn the tables.special prosecutor jack smith President Trump said he was “crazy.” new york district attorney Alvin Bragg is a “criminal.” New York Attorney General Letitia James is a “racist.” And all are handmaidens to his political rival Joe Biden.

Trump’s position had color-coded content. Criminal defendants in our system have the right to due process, a prosecution free of conflicts of interest. Georgia courts have held that “law enforcement, especially criminal law enforcement, like Caesar’s wife, should be above suspicion and free from all temptation, prejudice, and prejudice.”

Mr. McAfee was appropriately concerned. He held an evidentiary hearing on the matter, with two and a half days of dramatic testimony. Mr. Wade testified. Mr. Willis testified. Willis’ elderly father, a former lawyer, said the same thing, and that Willis, like many black people, often keeps large sums of cash in his home for his expenses. Even the former Georgia governor testified that she hired him to head her prosecution team, but he turned down the position out of concern for his and his family’s safety. Therefore, it was difficult to find a chief prosecutor.

As a starting point, Mr. McAfee acknowledged that romantic relationships between prosecutors, even if the prosecutors are romantically involved alone, are not disqualifying unless both parties are solvent. The defendants alleged that Willis and Wade traveled together on multiple occasions from October 2022 to May 2023, with Wade paying many of the associated expenses. The documentable costs in Willis’ favor totaled $12,000 to his $15,000, a fairly small amount in today’s economic climate.

Far-fetched, the defendants argued that this was a kickback of state funds from Wade’s salary to Willis, for which Willis was responsible. Willis testified that she had repaid Wade her share in cash, but no one believed her except her McAfee. Of course, no one testified to the contrary, and the court held that “no evidence has been established that the district attorney received any significant financial benefits as a result of his decision to hire Wade and enter into a romantic relationship with her.” No.” “Simply put, defendants have not presented evidence that the costs were not “approximately evenly divided,”” he said.

Therefore, there was insufficient evidence of an actual conflict in the record. What on earth did any of this have to do with Trump’s prosecution?

Not that there wasn’t evidence that there were signs of fraud. Georgia courts have held that prosecutors can be disqualified for actual conflicts of interest, and some courts have also held that “appearances of impropriety” must be avoided. Here, McAfee found evidence of such appearances and a “scent of deception” in the testimony.

However, he argued that “without sufficient evidence that the district attorney obtained a personal interest in the prosecution or that the district attorney’s financial arrangements had any effect on the case, a defendant that there was an actual dispute must Their claims must be denied.” However, the court made it clear that it did not tolerate “serious errors of judgment” and held state disciplinary authorities accountable for Willis’ actions.

Judge McAfee, in a Solomon-like fashion, would require either Willis and his entire office to leave or Wade to withdraw, thereby preventing any confusion that could undermine the merits of the case. It was decided that Wade quickly retreated and we were victorious.

Prosecutors may be weak against fleshly sins, but as Attorney General Robert Jackson, soon to be a Supreme Court Justice, Said A group of lawyers in 1940 stated: “The qualities of a good prosecutor are as elusive and impossible to define as the qualities of a gentleman. And those who have to be told will not be able to understand it anyway. ”

Author and legal analyst James D. Gillin is a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. He is also a public television talk show and podcast host. Conversation with Jim Gillin.