Fulton County, Ga., Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee made his decision on whether District Attorney Fani Willis can continue prosecuting Donald Trump and 18 other co-defendants on corruption charges.
McAfee ruled that Willis can continue to prosecute the former president and his co-defendants, but he has given the state multiple options to handle the case. All options involve Nathan Wade stepping away from the team.
“The prosecution of this case cannot proceed until the State selects one of two options,” McAfee wrote in his decision. “The District Attorney may choose to step aside, along with the whole of her office, and refer the prosecution to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council for reassignment... Alternatively, (Special Assistant District Attorney) Wade can withdraw, allowing the District Attorney, the Defendants, and the public to move forward without his presence or remuneration distracting from and potentially compromising the merits of this case.”
Willis campaigned as an anti-corruption candidate in 2020 because accusations of sexual and financial wrongdoing surrounded her predecessor, Paul Howard. She declared to an interviewer that the people of Fulton County “deserve a DA that won't have sex with his employees [and] won't put money in their own pocket.”
McAfee ordered a hearing into Willis’ conflicts of interest after reports surfaced in January that Willis was allegedly carrying on an affair with Nathan Wade, an attorney she hired as a special counsel on the case. Despite his lack of experience with RICO cases, Willis paid him more than more experienced attorneys for his work.
Willis also allegedly dispatched Wade to meet with Biden administration officials about the Trump prosecution. She also had the live-in lover (and now wife) of the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor working in her office, which prevented her from questioning the GOP candidate for the same office as part of the investigation.
In the run-up to the hearings, Willis spoke at a historic black church in Atlanta, where she claimed that the allegations against her were racist. She used the appearance as an opportunity to grandstand about the case before any witnesses took the stand.
Wade testified that he and Willis took expensive trips on his dime, and both parties claimed that Willis paid cash for her half of the trips, which led to strange exchanges about the stashes of cash that Willis apparently keeps “everywhere I lay my head.”
Willis took the stand and gave fiery testimony. She fired barbs at the attorneys who brought about the allegations of corruption, and McAfee had to chide Willis to tone down her anger. It was another attempt at grandstanding that some experts say backfired.
During the hearings, Willis, Wade, and other witnesses gave conflicting testimony about when their relationship began. Wade insisted that their affair didn’t begin until after Willis hired him, which proved untrue, and he played word games to claim that he wasn’t married when they carried on their infidelity. We also learned that the two attorneys had multiple late-night dalliances.
Earlier this week, McAfee dismissed some of the charges against Trump and his co-defendants, which legal experts said was a blow to Willis’ case against the former president. The judge did leave the door open to bring the charges back.
“While respecting the Court’s decision, we believe that the Court did not afford appropriate significance to the prosecutorial misconduct of Willis and Wade, including the financial benefits, testifying untruthfully about when their personal relationship began, as well as Willis’ extrajudicial MLK ‘church speech,’ where she played the race card and falsely accused the defendants and their counsel of racism," said Steve Sadow, lead defense counsel for President Trump, in a statement. "We will use all legal options available as we continue to fight to end this case, which should never have been brought in the first place.”
This is a developing story, and we will add more details as they become available.
Read the full decision below:
Judge McAfee's Decision on Fani Willis' Eligibility by PJ Media on Scribd
Join the conversation as a VIP Member