ATLANTA, GEORGIA – AUGUST 14: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks during a news conference at the Fulton County Government building on August 14, 2023 (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
This week on Trump’s Trials, host Scott Detrow is joined by Justice Correspondent Carrie Johnson and Georgia politics reporter Sam Gringlas.
Judge Scott McAfee ruled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis can stay on the Georgia election interference case but only if she removes special prosecutor Nathan Wade. Wade later resigned in a letter to the district attorney.
Willis and Wade had come under fire for having a relationship that Trump and his co-defendants argued was a conflict of interest. Judge McAfee said in his ruling that the defendants did not meet the burden of proving the relationship was a conflict of interest but found “a significant appearance of impropriety” in the prosecution team.
And in New York, the judge overseeing the hush money case officially delayed the start of that trial to mid-April. Jury selection was originally set to begin on March 25.
Carrie’s takeaway:
In Judge Scott McAfee’s ruling he said there’s an appearance problem that threaten confidence in the legal system because of the drama surrounding Fani Willis and her relationship with Nathan Wade. The judge asked Willis or Wade to remove themselves in order to end any further speculation about them. Judge McAfee was harsh and critical of Willis in his decision saying this was a tremendous laps in judgement by Willis. He even called into question whether Willis and Wade testified honestly about the timing of when their relationship started. Wade resigned later that day, meaning Willis and the rest of her team can continue to work on the case. But the timing on when this case would actually go to trial is unknown at this point.
Up in New York, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg asked the judge overseeing the hush money case to delay the trail start date by 30 days. The judge approved that request and the trial will now start in mid-April. Bragg requested this because the prosecution got addition files from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District. This is an issue of fairness to Trump and his legal team, they need time to look over the thousands of documents they just received.
Sam’s takeaway:
This story has dominated headlines in Georgia but its hard to say how its affected the electorate and potential jury pool. Willis is facing re-election this year and has challengers but its hard to see her losing this race. But the investigations aren’t over for Willis. The Georgia Senate has created a committee to look into her and state Republicans just started to implement a new oversight board with the power to removed elected district attorneys for misconduct. Republicans in the U.S. of Representatives are also working on an investigation into Willis.
Source: npr
