Nathan Wade Pulls Out Of Fani Case After Fulton Fiasco
Update (1615ET): Hours after the judge in Trump's Georgia election interference case issued an ultimatum to DA Fani Willis, her (ex) lover Nathan Wade has quit the case.
As they say, the show must go on...
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An Atlanta judge, who donated to Fani Willis when she was running for office, ruled on Friday that the highly conflicted Fulton County DA simply has to break up with her lover, Nathan Wade, who she hired to the tune of $600,000 to work on the Trump election interference case.
If Willis dumps Wade the case can continue, according to Judge Scott McAfee of Fulton Superior Court, who also had the option of removing Willis over the giant conflict of interest which included lavish vacations with Wade that were effectively at the taxpayer's expense.
According to McAfee, while he found the "appearance of impropriety," no "disqualification of a constitutional officer necessary when a less drastic and sufficiently remedial option is available," adding "that the prosecution of this case cannot proceed until the State selects one of two options."
Either "the District Attorney may choose to step aside, along with the whole of her office," or "Wade can withdraw."
Robin Yeartie is relegated to one sentence. One sentence!
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) March 15, 2024
McAfee says Yeartie's testimony "lacked context and detail."
But this isn't true. Yeartie provided context and detail: observations of the romance, admissions from Fani Willis, etc.
All purposefully ignored. pic.twitter.com/fLOenoD8QV
McAfee also found that there was no "actual conflict" brought about due to the relationship, a finding that would have required him to disqualify Willis.
"This finding is by no means an indication that the Court condones this tremendous lapse in judgment or the unprofessional manner of the District Attorney’s testimony during the evidentiary hearing. Rather, it is the undersigned’s opinion that Georgia law does not permit the finding of an actual conflict for simply making bad choices — even repeatedly — and it is the trial court’s duty to confine itself to the relevant issues and applicable law properly brought before it."
"Without sufficient evidence that the District Attorney acquired a personal stake in the prosecution, or that her financial arrangements had any impact on the case, the Defendants’ claims of an actual conflict must be denied," he wrote.
"As the case moves forward, reasonable members of the public could easily be left to wonder whether the financial exchanges have continued resulting in some form of benefit to the District Attorney, or even whether the romantic relationship has resumed."
Willis and Wade - whose divorce from his wife has yet to be finalized, admitted to the affair, but were caught lying about when it started.
Update (1050ET): Trump's lead defense counsel in the case, Steve Sadow, slammed the ruling.
"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," he said in a statement.
While the decision is a blow to Trump and his co-defendants, this leaves Willis tainted by weeks of embarrassing hearings and national headlines that could influence the views of a jury.
Trump and his co-defendants could also appeal McAfee's ruling, as could Willis, which would further delay the case into the election - leaving the matter unresolved (and of course, leaving the question of Trump's guilt an open question that the media would push daily during his 2nd term, should he win in November).
McAfee's decision comes two days after he quashed six charges in the case, three of which directly applied to Trump.