Yesterday, a judge in Georgia conducted a hearing to consider whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified from the specious RICO case she brought against former President Trump.
The two-day evidentiary hearing is a pivotal moment for the Georgia RICO case. Trump and co-defendants are seeking to remove Willis based on allegations that she and Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to lead the case, engaged in an improper romantic relationship which financially benefitted the district attorney, reported CNN.
Wade and Willis acknowledged in court filings that they had a personal relationship but deny any wrongdoing. Willis argued there’s no basis for her to be disqualified or for the case to be dismissed.
During a hearing earlier this week, Willis’s attorneys failed to convince Judge Scott McAfee that the motions to disqualify her and dismiss the case should be denied without an evidentiary hearing.
McAfee called for the hearing Thursday to “establish the record on those core allegations” against Willis and Wade and their relationship.
“That is no longer a matter of complete speculation. The state has admitted a relationship existed,” McAfee said Monday. “So, what remains to be proven is the existence and extent of any financial benefit, again if there even was one. Because I think it’s possible that the facts alleged by the defendant could result in disqualification.”
Should Willis be disqualified it’s unclear if another prosecutor in Georgia would even be inclined to take up the case from Willis, given its political and legal challenges.
We think Willis and Wade should be disqualified, but that should not be the end of the matter for Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade.
Forbes reported Robin Yeartie, a former Fulton County District Attorney’s office employee who described herself as a former close friend of Willis, said Willis and Wade began dating shortly after an October 2019 judicial conference, when Wade was working as a lawyer and municipal court judge in Cobb County, and before Willis hired him to work on the Trump case.
POLITICO reported Yeartie’s testimony was the first time a witness publicly undercut Willis’ claim about the timing of her relationship with Wade. Yeartie described meeting Willis in college and developing a close friendship that resulted in Willis subletting a condo from her in April 2021. Yeartie would eventually take a job in Willis’ office, but resigned in 2022 amid internal acrimony, and the two have not spoken since, Yeartie testified.
The allegations by Ms. Yeartie directly contradict Wade’s and Willis’ claims that the two began their relationship after he was hired as special counsel in 2022.
Citing her own personal observations of “affection” between the two and information Willis shared with her about the relationship, Yeartie said she has “no doubt” the two were in a relationship from 2019 until at least 2022, the last time she spoke with Willis and the year she resigned from the district attorney’s office.
After being forced to take the stand Wade described traveling with Willis to places like Aruba, Belize and Napa Valley in 2022 and 2023. He said he couldn’t recall whether they had traveled together in 2021. He also said Willis nearly always reimbursed him in cash — an assertion that prompted one of Trump’s co-defendants, David Shafer, to laugh out loud in the courtroom, prompting a scolding from the judge.
Editor's Note: Willis later claimed under oath she kept cash from her first campaign and used it to reimburse Wade. This is, in effect, admitting to a felony-level campaign law violation.
The Trump team lawyers say Wade misled Judge McAfee and committed “fraud on the court” by denying in a sworn affidavit earlier this month that he was in a relationship with Willis prior to joining the investigative team. They also have highlighted filings in Wade’s recent divorce proceedings with his wife of more than two decades, saying Wade omitted evidence of his relationship with Willis.
If those allegations are true – and it looks very much like they are – then Willis and Wade should not only be disqualified from the Trump case but be disbarred for committing a fraud on the court by lying about their relationship and the financial benefits flowing to Willis from Wade.
Georgia Trump indictments
Fulton County DA Fani Willis
Nathan Wade
Romantic relationship
Judge Scott McAfee
Robin Yeartie
First Amendment Right to Petition
Special Counsel Jack Smith
Merrick Garland
January 6
Obstruction of Official Proceeding
Free Speech
Hunter Biden
Joe Biden administration
January 6 prisoners
Washington DC juries
District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan
Change of venue motion
Conservatives need to leave the Republican Party. I suggest they need to join the Founders Party of America.
She is the worst. I have to say, affirmative action has paid off bigly for the -rat party, if you consider all the dumb, fat, black females going after DJT, all in the name of leftist end-justifies-the-means political skullduggery.
YES, Disqualify Willis and Wade, Disbarr them both and Throw out the case against Trump. It is high time that Corrupt and Criminal Activity in the US Court system regains credibility.