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re: Jack Smith Shreds TRUMPs' Immunity-Asks Supreme Court to REJECT His Plea
Judge in TRUMPS' Georgia Case Orders Hearing on Misconduct Allegations Against DA Fani Willis
Judge Sets Hearing Over Fani Willis Conflict-of-Interest Claims
Co-defendant Michael Roman requests DA be stood down over claims of improper romantic relationship with special prosecutor in TRUMPS' Criminal Trial
The Guardian 20 JAN 2024
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Nathan Wade arrive to speak at a news conference at the Fulton County Government building on August 14, 2023
The Georgia judge overseeing the racketeering case charging Donald Trump and allies with attempting to overturn the 2020 election results in the state has scheduled a hearing for February to weigh whether the Fulton county district attorney should be disqualified from prosecuting the charges.
In a one-page order, the Fulton county superior judge Scott McAfee set an evidentiary hearing for 15 February to address allegations raised by Trump’s co-defendant Michael Roman that the district attorney Fani Willis had an improper romantic relationship with one of her prosecutors.
The scandal intensified more than a week after the allegations against Willis surfaced in a Jan. 8 motion filed by former Republican campaign aide Michael Roman, who is one of more than a dozen co-defendants facing charges in the unprecedented RICO case against Trump in Georgia.
Days after the salacious allegations came to light, the case took a major unexpected turn when Willis received a subpoena to testify in Wade’s ongoing divorce proceedings on Jan. 23, lending credibility to the claims of an extramarital affair between Willis and Wade.
Meanwhile, the motion from Willis seeks to vanquish the subpoena in Wade’s divorce case, claiming “[Joycelyn] Wade is using the legal process to harass and embarrass District Attorney Willis, and in doing so, is obstructing and interfering with an ongoing criminal prosecution,” the filing states, according to The Atlanta Journal-Consitution.
Meanwhile, Roman’s motion urges Judge McAfee to immediately dismiss the charges and disqualify Willis from continuing to pursue the case against Trump and those accused alongside him.
So far, Willis has neither confirmed nor denied the salacious claims in Roman’s court motion, which also alleged the district attorney enriched herself through the ongoing relationship with attorney Nathan Wade, whom she hired in late 2021 to prosecute Trump on 13 criminal counts for his efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election result.
Previously, the DA’s spokesperson said Willis would respond fully to the allegations “through appropriate court filings.”
Willis handpicked Wade to handle the unprecedented case against Trump, ostensibly to minimize any perceived impropriety, as Trump was the first U.S. president to ever face criminal charges.
Although Roman’s legal filing did not cite direct evidence of the alleged affair, it did raise immediate questions about the validity of Willis’ indictment against Trump while also highlighting concerns over Willis’ professional conduct.
Willis remained mum on the scandal for nearly a week before she finally broke her silence in a Jan. 14 speech at Big Bethel AME Church in Atlanta, where she was invited to speak as part of a tribute to Martin Luther King Day.
However, she did not offer any specifics about her private life, and she never mentioned Wade by name, although she vaguely acknowledged some personal shortcomings, saying she was not a “perfect person.”
The debacle threatens to derail the prosecution as Roman’s filing claims Willis and Wade are actively involved in an extraordinary romance behind the scenes, constituting potential ethical and criminal violations.
Legal experts suggest Willis’ credibility is at serious stake and that she could face a legal review that could ultimately bring her downfall as Fulton County’s lead prosecutor.
In his motion, Roman also asserted that Wade is being paid a significantly higher salary than other Fulton County prosecutors, allowing him and Willis to travel together on lavish vacations, including several luxury cruises.
Roman’s petition showed Wade billed Fulton County $6,000 for 24 hours of work on Jan. 5, 2021, leading to accusations of honest services fraud — a federal crime involving improper kickbacks — which raises the prospect for Willis to face federal racketeering charges.
Since taking over the prosecution against Trump, Wade has received more than $654,000 in legal fees that Willis signed off.
In her speech before the congregation, however, Willis insisted that Wade is being paid the same as two other special prosecutors assisting him in the case against Trump
Willis faced immediate pressure to resign from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who represents Georgia’s 14th District, after she filed a complaint with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and state Attorney General Chris Carr, claiming Willis had engaged in criminal misconduct and an “illegal conflict of interest.”
RELATED: TRUMP RICO Co-Defendant Harrison Floyd Hearing in Fulton County, GA
19 Jan 2024
Harrison Floyd, one of 18 people indicted in Fulton County, Georgia, along with Former President Donald Trump, is expected to face an Atlanta Judge Friday for a motion hearing.
Floyd, the former director of Black Voice for Trump, faces charges for his alleged involvement in the plot to get then-Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman to falsely admit that she committed election fraud.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee will hear arguments on multiple motions; more than half of them aimed to dismiss three felony charges against Floyd.
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