A co-defendant in a Georgia organized crime case against former President Trump has reportedly donated to the 2024 election campaign of the Atlanta judge presiding over the case.
According to election data reported by Newsweek, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee received $150 from co-defendant Ray Smith III on May 25, 2023. McAfee won the May primary election, fending off a challenge from civil rights attorney and radio host Robert Pattillo.
McAfee has served as judge for just over a year since being appointed to fill a vacancy by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and will begin serving a four-year term in January.
Smith was the first co-defendant to plead not guilty after a grand jury handed down a sweeping indictment in District Attorney Fani Willis’ case against former presidential co-conspirators.
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Arrest photo of former Trump lawyer Ray Smith (Fulton County Sheriff’s Office)
Smith was charged with 12 counts of illegally asking Georgia lawmakers to appoint additional electors who would vote for Trump in the Electoral College.
In 2020, Smith appeared at state legislative hearings on behalf of the Trump campaign and argued that it would be “impossible” to certify President Biden’s victory.
“Due to fraud and the complete failure of state and county secretaries of state to properly conduct the election, it is impossible to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election,” Smith told a Georgia Senate Judiciary subcommittee at the time. He argued that Georgia’s election was “flawed” and that state lawmakers have the power to select presidential electors if there is significant “irregularity” in the presidential election.
Smith presented lawmakers with the Trump campaign’s claims that Georgia’s election laws were not followed in 2020 – claims rejected in court – and interviewed several witnesses presented by Trump’s defense team.
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Judge Scott McAfee in the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta on Feb. 15. (Alyssa Poynter, Getty Images)
McAfee was randomly assigned last year to handle an unprecedented case against a former president and potential 2024 Republican presidential nominee.
Newsweek reported that Smith is not the first defense donor in the case to McAfee: Wilmer Parker III, an attorney for co-defendant John Eastman, donated $500 to McAfee’s reelection campaign in March, the magazine said.
Judge McAfee became one of the most high-profile judges in the country after shocking evidence was revealed in court that Willis had an “inappropriate” relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor he hired to help prosecute the case.
The lawsuit against Trump is currently on hold until the Georgia Court of Appeals reviews Trump’s argument that Willis should be disqualified.
Earlier this year, McAfee allowed Willis to remain on the case only if Wade resigned or was fired. During a three-day evidentiary hearing, Trump and his co-defendants argued that Willis should be disbarred because she was romantically involved with Wade before he hired her and because she benefited financially from his position in the district attorney’s office. Both Willis and Wade denied the allegations.
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Former President Trump headlines the Republican National Committee’s spring donor retreat on May 4, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Donald Trump 2024 Election Campaign)
Judge McAfee ruled in March that “neither party has conclusively proven by a preponderance of the evidence when the relationship developed into a romantic relationship.”
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Still, the judge said, “the smell of falsehood remains,” and that “the district attorney and her handpicked leaders of SADA [special assistant district attorney] The false statements made about the timing of the relationship further support the finding of alleged misconduct and the need for reasonable efforts to remedy it.”
The judge allowed Trump and his co-defendants to appeal, and the Georgia Court of Appeals accepted the appeal in May.
Oral arguments on the appeal are scheduled for October.
Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
