Fani Woes

[George K]

Judge McAfee...

In a ruling issued Friday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee wrote that defendants “failed to meet their burden” in proving Willis’s relationship with lead prosecutor Nathan Wade was a “conflict of interest" enough to merit her removal from the case. But the judge also found an appearance of “impropriety” and said either Willis and her office must fully leave the case or Wade must withdraw from the proceeding.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/15/fani-willis-trump-georgia-case/?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_news_alert_revere&location=alert

[George K]

"So, if I have this right, Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee decided to pull a James Comey, Robert Mueller, and Robert Hur:

Write a ruling saying Fani Willis and Nathan Wade are guilty as hell, have no ethics, and aren't good role models....BUT Fani can stay"

[taiwan_girl]

Or, one of the two lawyers must leave the case.

[George K]

@taiwan_girl said in Fani Woes:

Or, one of the two lawyers must leave the case.

Yup.

"You're both unethical liars, but one can stay."

[Jolly]

Bad ju-ju.

Automatic grounds for appeal?

[George K]

@Jolly said in Fani Woes:

Automatic grounds for appeal?

Gotta wonder. McAfee and Willis have had a professional relationship for a while.

I wonder if

a) He's trying to cover his ass because of that
b) Opening the possibility for appeal while saying "Hey, I didn't fire her!"

[Jolly]

@George-K said in Fani Woes:

@Jolly said in Fani Woes:

Automatic grounds for appeal?

Gotta wonder. McAfee and Willis have had a professional relationship for a while.

I wonder if

a) He's trying to cover his ass because of that
b) Opening the possibility for appeal while saying "Hey, I didn't fire her!"

I think B is maybe it. It's Fulton County and bringing the full hammer down on her might have bad repercussions. Maybe this way, he helps her save a little face.

[George K]

@George-K said in Fani Woes:

Was the Trump/Raffensperger phone call illegally recorded?

https://thefederalist.com/2024/03/07/new-book-admits-fani-willis-get-trump-investigation-began-with-illegal-recording/

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/amid-new-wrongdoing-calls-fulton-da-willis-urges-state-court-to-reject-appeal-from-election-indictment-defendants/ar-BB1li5Fu

Floyd, a former leader of the group Black Voices For Trump, is accused of pressuring two Georgia election workers to lie about fraud during the state’s vote count in 2020. Former President Donald Trump was also indicted.

Floyd told Atlanta News First that because Maryland is one of 11 “two-party” states in the U.S., requiring the consent of all parties to a conversation before it can be recorded, Willis may have violated the state’s wiretapping policy.

However, the law may not be that clear cut though, experts say. Because Willis placed the call in Georgia, a one-party state where only one person involved in a conversation needs to be aware of a recording, it directly conflicts with Maryland’s status as a two-party state.

“This is one of those things that just doesn’t arise that much, especially with law enforcement and government officers,” said John Acevedo, an associate professor with Emory University Law School. “So it’s a bit of an unsettled area of law whether what should govern is the law of the state where the call was made and the recording is made, which in this case would be a one-party state, or where each party is located, which would then be Georgia and Maryland, which would then be a two-party state rule.”

Acevedo said law enforcement officials like district attorneys also get special considerations when recording calls in the process of their duties.

Regardless, Acevedo said it’s tenuous ground for a prosecutor.

“By and large, we don’t like district attorneys to record defense attorneys when they’re talking to them; it chills the speech,” Acevedo said. “This means any defense attorney now talking to Fani Willis or her office is going to think, ‘I might be being recorded.’ So in that sense there’s kind of a general policy against it.”

It's an interesting point. If one person is in a "one-party" state (Willis) and the other is in a "two-party" state (Floyd), does Floyd have a case to dismiss the evidence?

[George K]

Georgia appeals court agrees to review possible disqualification

A Georgia appeals court on Wednesday agreed to review a lower court ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue to prosecute the election interference case she brought against former President Donald Trump.

The move seems likely to delay the case and is the second time in as many days that the former president has gotten a favorable ruling that could push any future trials beyond the November election, when he is expected to be the Republican nominee for president. A day earlier, the judge in his Florida classified documents case indefinitely postponed that trial date.

Trump and some other defendants in Georgia had tried to get Willis and her office removed the case, saying her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade created a conflict of interest. Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee in March found that no conflict of interest existed that should force Willis off the case, but he granted a request from Trump and the other defendants to seek an appeal of his ruling from the Georgia Court of Appeals.

[Jolly]

He punted, because he's elected and has to live there. Cannot even have a hint of racism, because that dog is gonna howl all day and night, if Fani gets removed.

I think the Judge is praying mightily that the appellate court gives her the boot.