(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A Georgia judge suggested that a verdict regarding the potential disqualification of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case against former President Donald Trump could be imminent, following closing remarks on Friday.
Judge Scott McAfee stated that he would rule within two weeks on the motion seeking to remove Willis from the case over accusations of conflicts of interest stemming from Willis’s relationship with Nathan Wade, one of the special prosecutors leading the case.
“There are several legal issues to sort through, several factual determinations that I have to make, and those aren’t ones that I can make at this moment,” he said, as reported by the Daily Caller. “So I will be taking time to make sure I give this case the full consideration it is due. I hope to have an answer for everyone within the next two weeks.”
John Merchant, the defense attorney representing co-defendant Michael Roman, asserted the presence of “enough facts” to disqualify Willis. Notably, Roman was the first to disclose the disturbing allegations.
John Merchant is correct. Americans will lose trust in the judicial system if Fani Willis is allowed to remain on the Trump case. There is so much lawlessness happening in the Biden Regime. Hopefully, Judge McAfee will decide to rebalance the scales of justice pic.twitter.com/IsXbNFuNP9
— Charles R Downs (@TheCharlesDowns) March 1, 2024
In addition to Merchant, Steve Sadow, a Trump attorney, and Harry Macdougald, legal counsel for co-defendant Jeffrey Clark, delivered their concluding remarks on Friday.
According to Fox News, Sadow contended that Willis’s infamous comments in church, where she asserted that allegations against her were solely based on her race, were a “calculated determination” intended to “prejudice the defendants and their counsel.” Similarly, Macdougald rebuked the allegations, denouncing them as casting “an irreparable stain on the case.”
🚨Fani Willis disqualification hearing:
Watch every single second of this. Masterful. pic.twitter.com/8fwOqkCMKV
— Tracy Beanz (@tracybeanz) March 1, 2024
Adam Abbate, Willis’s legal counsel, said that the allegations do not prove a conflict of interest and that there was “no evidence” that Willis directly benefited from Wade’s contract.
FANI WILLIS LAWYER: “Miss Wade, excuse me, Miss Willis” pic.twitter.com/IQ7gQNlLYF
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 1, 2024
Willis is embroiled in controversy after bombshell revelations that she hired Wade, with whom she admittedly held a romantic relationship, to lead the criminal case against Trump for alleged illegal efforts to question the 2020 election results in Georgia.
Wade, a married individual currently entangled in a divorce proceeding, paid vacation trips for both himself and Willis, allegedly using funds from his Fulton County contract—an arrangement that Willis approved.
Willis has repeatedly refuted the allegations, claiming her affair with Wade began after the prosecution against Trump commenced. This timing, Willis argued, means she did not hire Wade based on her previous ties. However, a former friend of Willis contradicted these statements, declaring that the relationship between the two began before the specified timeline.
Willis additionally asserted that she repaid Wade for the vacation trips, saying that she did not personally gain from Wade’s contract with Fulton County. However, she has yet to provide evidence and maintains that the reimbursement was made all in cash.
When pressed for cash withdrawal receipts, Willis replied by saying that she had the cash at home. Her father, who testified, claimed he had taught her to keep cash at home, attributing the practice to being a “black” thing. Notably, Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., currently under a federal indictment for corruption, raised a similar defense to explain why he had allegedly bribed cash at home.
Willis charged Trump and 18 other co-defendants in Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) charges over what she described as an illegal attempt to thwart the Georgia election results in 2020.
