Fani Willis decision in Georgia judge’s hands after final hearing

The fate of former President Trump’s 2020 election interference case in Georgia is now being determined by the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, which will be tasked with determining whether to disqualify the Fulton County District Attorney’s office from a historic prosecution over a romance between two top prosecutors. It’s up to the state judge who owed it.

Judge Scott McAfee on Friday removed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) and special prosecutor Nathan Wade from the mass racketeering case because they once had a romantic relationship. He heard arguments to determine whether the

McAfee’s decision may depend on how he weighs the evidence presented during the three-day hearing. The judge previously said the allegations against Willis and Wade “may be disqualified” if the evidence shows “an actual conflict or an indication of a conflict.”

“The whole outcome depends largely on what disqualification criteria he applies,” said Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University who has closely watched the case.

“[The defense] It falls short of proving or demonstrating that Fani Willis received significant kickbacks or the like from prosecutors. So I think if the standard is an actual conflict, they’re going to have a pretty tough fight,” Kreis said. “But if the standard is a sign of conflict or a sign of fraud, I think the defense may be confusing things enough.”

The weeks-long detour in the Georgia election interference case stems from a complaint filed in January by Michael Roman, a 2020 Trump campaign operative, in which Willis accused prosecutors of teasing Wade through a lavish vacation they took together. He accused him of profiting financially from the relationship.

Throughout several hearings, Willis and Wade took to the stand and defended their integrity. They confirmed their romantic relationship, which they said began in early 2022 before breaking up in the summer of 2023.

Testimony from two of the prosecutor’s colleagues, a former friend of Mr. Willis and a former law partner of Mr. Wade, contradicted that timeline.

Robin Yearty, who met Willis in college, testified after the judicial conference that Willis and Wade “definitely” started dating in 2019. She said she saw the two “hugging” and “kissing” before Mr. Wade was hired.

Terrence Bradley, a former law partner, said in text messages with Rome attorney Ashley Merchant that prosecutors also claimed began dating Wade before he was hired.

“Do you think it started before she hired him?” the merchant asked.

“Of course,” Bradley replied.

Bradley, who was also Wade’s former divorce attorney, initially tried to claim attorney-client privilege, but the judge asked him to testify in more detail about his knowledge of the relationship. When he took the witness stand, he described his writings as “speculation.”

Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Steve Sadow, urged the judge to consider Mr. Bradley’s private communications as true, even though he left during his testimony.

“‘Absolutely’ is not a speculative word,” Sadow said. “That’s not speculation. It’s a definitive statement.”

The Fulton County Prosecutor’s Office described Mr. Bradley as a “disgruntled and vengeful speculator” and said the text message question to Mr. Merchant’s attorney itself suggested speculation.

Melissa Redmon, director of the University of Georgia’s Prosecuting Justice Program, said the former Wade law partner’s inconsistencies call into question his credibility and the credibility of the defense’s allegations.

“No matter how despicable it is, [the motion] “It seems like it was just based on gossip,” Redmon said.

Fulton County prosecutors argued that the judge should consider whether the defense had shown that Willis’ relationship with Wade was an actual conflict of interest, and argued that the defense had not met that burden.

In court filings, defense attorneys pointed to two vacations to Aruba and Belize that Wade allegedly paid for, as well as two cruises to the Bahamas and other trips.

But Willis and Wade claim they split the travel expenses “about evenly,” and even though the defense claimed the payment method didn’t “pass the smell test,” Willis gave Wade cash. could not refute the claim that the money was repaid.

“If the motive for prosecuting this case is to continue to profit financially, why does Ms. Willis repeatedly ask this court to set a trial date as soon as possible?” Adam Abate said. “It’s not in line. It doesn’t make sense, and there’s no point in having a reason, because it doesn’t exist.”

Mr. McAfee has pushed back on the state’s argument that an actual conflict must be proven and is considering broader ways for judges to review evidence to disqualify Mr. Willis and his office. suggested that it was possible.

“Many of these cases appear to rely solely on the appearance of fraud,” the judge said.

After some back-and-forth, Abate responded, “I would submit to a non-standard court.”

If McAfee removes the district attorney’s office from the case, prosecutors could be at a loss.

Redmon said the state cannot appeal the trial court’s acceptance of the disqualification motion and the case will be turned over to the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys Council. The agency will then appoint another district attorney’s office to handle the case. However, the case will remain before a judge and jury in Fulton County.

said Pete Skandalakis, the agency’s executive director. said before He said he would consider “how far away” the new prosecutor would be from Fulton County, and if Willis and her office were removed from Fulton County, nearby counties would be left with large-scale prosecutions. suggests that it is possible.

The new prosecutor will have full authority to prosecute cases at his discretion, including dropping the case altogether.

“It’s probably a question of how much bandwidth they have. How much political will do they have? Obviously, there are variables in political violence. But do they want to deal with it?” Kreis said.

“Of course they have their own cases to deal with,” he added. “Do they want to be bothered with this?”

If McAfee does not disqualify the district attorney’s office, the defense could petition the appellate court for certiorari review, but such appeals are rare, Redmon said. If the defense chooses to petition for reconsideration of the matter, it must do so within 10 days of McAfee’s order.

Either outcome could further delay the case. Willis and his office were disbarred from prosecuting in July 2022 after he headlined a fundraiser for one of Georgia Lt. Gov. Bert Jones’ political opponents.Council Not yet reassigned The incident took place a year and a half later.

But President Trump’s other legal issues may make a delay inevitable. His Washington, D.C., federal case has been paused as he challenges presidential immunity issues, but a delay in his Florida federal case appears imminent. A trial date has not yet been set in the Georgia case, but prosecutors have proposed an Aug. 5 start date.

“I think the August trial date was ambitious,” Redmon said, citing a number of outstanding claims in the case that could be appealed after McAfee’s ruling. “I would be surprised if this case went to trial before the election.”