Staff Reports
A judge in Georgia is gearing up to tackle the big question on everyone’s mind: Should Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis be booted from the election fraud case against former President Donald Trump and his 14 alleged co-conspirators? Trump and his fellow defendants are gunning for Willis, hoping to convince the judge that her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade is a major conflict of interest that should kick her whole office to the curb. They’re banking on the fact that Wade has pocketed a whopping $650,000 in taxpayer funds for his work on the case, hoping it’ll seal the deal in their favor.
Fani Willis faces harrowing week amid Trump disqualification bid: What to know https://t.co/SGtPtHs8Ki via @dcexaminer
— J. Metz (@Metz1245John) February 27, 2024
During some juicy, nationally televised hearings in February, both Willis and Wade swore up and down that they didn’t do anything shady enough to warrant their removal or the dismissal of the case. But hold onto your hats, folks, because the defense attorneys are crying foul, arguing that Willis and Wade are spinning a web of lies about their romantic entanglement, which reportedly sprouted before Willis even hired Wade. Trump’s lawyer, Steve Sadow, even whipped out cellphone records allegedly showing Wade visiting Willis’s apartment a whopping 35 times, including a couple of late-night rendezvous. Scandalous!
In a dramatic twist, Willis hit back, asking the judge to nix Sadow’s saucy cellphone evidence. She argued that the records don’t prove diddly-squat about the content of the chats between her and Wade, nor do they prove that either of them were actually at her place. She even went so far as to suggest that Trump’s legal eagle may have gotten his hands on the records through some shady means. But Trump’s team wasn’t having any of it, calling Willis’s objections a “last-ditch” and “frivolous” attempt to play dirty.
Now, hold onto your hats, because if the court buys into Trump’s spicy evidence, it could prolong the hearing for one of the co-defendants, Michael Roman, who first threw shade at Willis and Wade back in January. The drama continued when the judge met with Wade’s ex-law partner, Terrence Bradley, to talk about attorney-client privilege. And get this, folks: Seems like Bradley might spill the beans sooner rather than later, as he could be forced to spill the tea as early as Tuesday. The judge is set to hear more bickering from both sides on March 1, but don’t hold your breath for an instant ruling. Legal experts out there are placing bets on what the judge might do, with some saying that if Willis and Wade lied under oath about their romance, it could be curtains for them. Others are thinking that if the defense can’t prove Willis benefited from hiring Wade, then the judge might just hafta consider the appearance of a conflict of interest. It’s all up in the air, folks!
And, if by some twist of fate, Willis or her office gets shown the door, a state agency known as the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia will swoop in and decide the case’s fate. The drama just keeps coming, folks. Trump and his crew are facing a hefty 41-count indictment, claiming they cooked up a criminal scheme to flip the 2020 election. Willis’s team claims they got the goods on Trump, pointing to some key events that allegedly show the former prez’s intention to reverse the election. This includes a phone call in January 2021 where he apparently asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to work some magic and drum up enough votes to swing the election his way.
We’re not out of the woods yet, folks! Looks like four original co-defendants, including Trump’s ex-lawyers Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell, pleaded guilty and are singing like birds in exchange for a lighter sentence. If Willis manages to dodge the bullet with all this courtroom drama, she might push to get the ball rolling on a trial as soon as August, even though Trump and pals are yammering on about pushing it off till after the election. Pop some popcorn, folks, ’cause this circus ain’t leavin’ town anytime soon!
