No surprise

I would be surprised if she keeps her job .  She earned it.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Trump's fall guy?

Good lord, Fani

Sorry they didn't take her off the Trump Georgia RICO case back when they learned about her affair with one of her attorneys. But this isn't about that case...

The slowly moving YSL RICO case against rapper Young Thug and several other co-defendants, already beset by secret meetings between the prosecution and the court to such an extent that the case was taken away from Fulton County’s chief judge, was a source of controversy again Friday, this time because of an email DA Fani Willis sent (D).

Early on in the Friday proceedings, Douglas Weinstein, an attorney for rapper Deamonte “Yak Gotti” Kendrick, fumed that Willis sent an email to the court and others on Thursday morning unbeknownst to the defense.

[...]

“I appreciate you forwarding to us the ex parte communications that you received from Madam DA Fani Willis. Given the sensitivity and the history in this case of ex parte meetings or maybe communications, would you just please request the state — I understand what was probably behind that communications, and of course it is great for a boss to buck up and underling who has perhaps been attacked or maligned,” Weinstein told Judge Paige Reese Whitaker. “But I don’t believe that — and I don’t think the court does either — that the court should have been copied on that communications.”

[...]

Law&Crime has obtained the email thread Weinstein spoke of, and it shows that an individual in Germany first sent a lengthy email bashing prosecutor Adriane Love and cc’ing others, including Judges Reese and Glanville.

[...]

As it turns out, DA Willis took it upon herself to respond and defend Love — encouraging her to “ignore the haters” — while replying all to everyone already on the email thread, including the trial judge.

  MSN

Not only does she show again very, very poor judgment, she shows carelessness - or worse, ignorance - in email etiquette.

After Willis replied all, the judge noticed and alerted defense counsel.

[...]

Weinstein responded to say that while he didn’t believe the Willis email would sway the judge in any way, it was nonetheless inappropriate.

“It shouldn’t be happening. Yup,” the judge said.

[...]

Weinstein asked the judge to tell the state it’s past time for prosecutors to stop communicating with the court outside of the presence of the defense. Reese didn’t seem pleased that this even needed to be said.

“It’s a shame that the court would even have to say something like that, but um — can you all please communicate to everybody in the DA’s office to not have any sort of ex parte communications with the court?” the judge said.

[...]

Reese [...] agreed it would be a good idea to enter the Willis email into the record.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Justice delayed

Meanwhile in Georgia: an appeal to disqualify Fani Willis

Stay tuned.  Updates will appear here.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Of course

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Also, as expected, but not certain...

In the Georgia case to dismiss Fani Willis, Judge McAfee finds that she can stay, but says either Willis should voluntarily step aside, or else Wade should drop out of the prosecution on RICO charges. I suspect he will.

From the judge's ruling:

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. Put differently, an outsider could reasonably think that the District Attorney is not exercising her independent professional judgment totally free of any compromising influences. As long as Wade remains on the case, this unnecessary perception will persist.

[...]

Whether this case ends in convictions, acquittals, or something in between, the result should be one that instills confidence in the process. A reasonable observer unburdened by partisan blinders should believe the law was impartially applied, that those accused of crimes had a fair opportunity to present their defenses, and that any verdict was based on our criminal justice system's best efforts at ascertaining the truth. Any distractions that detract from these goals, if remedial under the law, should be proportionally addressed.

[...]

The Court therefore concludes that the prosecution of this case cannot proceed until the State selects one of two options. The District Attorney may choose to step aside, along with the whole of her office, and refer the prosecution to the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council for reassignment. [...] Alternatively, SADA Wade can withdraw, allowing the District Attorney, the Defendants, and the public to move forward without his presence or remuneration distracting from and potentially compromising the merits of this case.

[...]

After consideration of the record established on these motions, the Court finds the allegations and evidence legally insufficient to support a finding of an actual conflict of interest. However, the appearance of impropriety remains and must be handled as previously outlined before the prosecution can proceed. The Defendants' motions are therefore granted in part and denied in part.

  NYTimes

Somehow, I don't see Willis doing that.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 03:14 pm:

UPDATE 09:23 pm:

FFS, MAGA.

I wonder if we could crowd source moving Trump and MAGA to an island somewhere far away.

In the Georgia case...

Judge Scott McAfee tossed six charges contained in the indictment, including three of Trump’s counts, but his ruling does not impact the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act charge that serves as the foundation of the historic prosecution.

[...]

Each of the tossed charges related to alleged efforts by Trump and some of his co-defendants, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, to solicit Georgia officials to violate their oaths of office.

The judge ruled that while the charges do contain the “essential” elements of each crime, they fail to provide enough detail for the defendants to mount their defenses.

[...]

“The Court’s concern is less that the State has failed to allege sufficient conduct of the Defendants – in fact it has alleged an abundance,” McAfee wrote. “However, the lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned’s opinion, fatal.”

[...]

The judge wrote that, even if the statute of limitations expires, the state will receive a six-month extension from Wednesday to resubmit its case to a grand jury. He also said prosecutors could request [...] a certificate allowing them to appeal, which he would “likely grant” because of a lack of precedent.

  The Hill

Judge McAfee is young, but obviously very serious about the law. That's a good thing.

And I think this is probably an indication that he's not going to disqualify Fani Willis.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Know the facts before you judge

As always - if you wait until you know the facts...

My initial sentence of a previous post was typed in ignorance of the facts.  The relationship started after she appointed Wade to the team.

UPDATE 02/04/2024:

Regarding charges against Fani Willis

She still shouldn't have put her love interest on the case - poor judgment at best.  But former prosecutor and legal analyst Norm Eisen assesses the legal merits of the charges against her by Trump's RICO co-defendant Michael Roman.

I believe the scuttlebutt has been that Nathan Wade has been profiting from being hired to the case.  Eisen's argument is that would not come under Georgia conflict of interest laws.  Also, I've read that he was hired at the pay any other attorney would have been hired.  No doubt, Roman's attorneys will try to make hay of it anyway.

Hearing is set for February 15 before Judge McAfee.

Of course, that's what Trump's legal/political life is famous for.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 01/23/2024:

Agree.  He's also going through a messy divorce which is no doubt taking his own focus.

UPDATE 01/23/2024:

I really can’t defend Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. I want to, because her prosecution of the Donald Trump cronies involved in the conspiracy to overturn the election in Georgia is critical. I want to, because the Republican push to turn her personal missteps into a reason to dismiss her case is both wrong and infuriating. I want to, because, like Issa Rae, “I’m rooting for everybody Black.” But I can’t, or won’t, defend her from the salacious allegations leveled against her, because, if true, they represent a textbook case of public corruption—even if they shouldn’t affect the case against Trump.

[...]

Make no mistake: This is a hit job on a prominent Black woman, carried out by a longtime Republican operative who does this crap for a living.

[...]

Wade was, of course, paid for his work on the case, and Roman alleges that Wade spent some of the money on Willis, in the form of vacations and dinners and whatever else couples who don’t have children together do with their massive amounts of free time.

  Elie Mystal @ The Nation

And the problem is, if you're getting government money, you're not supposed to be spending it on the person who hired you into the government job you're getting paid for.

[T]he relationship looks a lot like a kickback scheme. There’s no law against hiring your lover (though there probably should be, because people seriously need to stop trying to serve the public and their genitals at the same time), but there absolutely are laws against public graft. [...] It might be “petty” corruption or “harmless” corruption or “the kind of corruption white men have gotten away with for hundreds of years,” but it’s still “corruption.”

[...]

All the evidence in this situation points to a messy divorce—and some galactically selfish and careless bad judgment—not a pattern of malicious prosecution.

The media has been getting a lot of play out of the fact that Wade was hired as a “special prosecutor.” But people are using that title without context, and ascribing outsize importance to his role. At the federal level, a special prosecutor like Jack Smith has independent authority and is brought on to make all the decisions and run the case. It’s not like that at the local level, where a special prosecutor can best be thought of as extra help.

[...]

However, his role as a well-paid functionary should help the case survive. Willis, in fact, hired two other special prosecutors, in addition to Wade, that nobody seems to have a problem with.

[...]

If [Willis] and Wade were kicked off the case or eloped to Fiji or quit to star in the next season of Love Island, the state of Georgia would still have a case. Remember, this is a case where multiple people—including Sidney Powell, Ken Chesboro, and Jenna Ellis—have already pleaded guilty. [...] If every criminal trial stopped because a prosecutor was throwing money to some a bit on the side, we’d have to open the jails and free a whole bunch of people.

All that said, the time for Wade to get his ass gone from this case is now.

[...]

The suggestion that Willis should leave is a bit more complicated. The court could kick her off the case, but my political calculus is that it’s better for the case for Willis to stay. [...] The appearance of impropriety and evidence of unethical behavior is likely more of an issue for the voters of Georgia [- Willis is up for reelection this year - ] than it is for Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over the trial.

[...]

Black people know that is the standard—perfection—that we are held to, especially if we dare to challenge white power and authority. We can’t make mistakes.

[...]

Fani Willis knows all that, and yet, in the biggest case of her life, with the entire world watching, she apparently decided to hire her lover for a $650,000 government job? If true, that’s not a “mistake.” It’s not merely “bad judgment.” It’s hubris. It’s reckless.

[...]

All that’s left now is the very long fall. Let us hope she doesn’t drag the case with her on the way down.

UPDATE 02/03/2024:   As always - if you wait until you know the facts...

So my initial sentence of this post was typed in ignorance of the facts...

Meanwhile in Georgia

Fani Willis responds to criticism

UPDATE 01/20/2024

Oh my

 

That was painful.

I only hope recent revelations about Fani Willis don't tank this case.  That might be Rudy's only hope here.

And, as if Judge McAfee's case weren't complex or delicate enough...

The judge in Fulton County DA Fani Willis' Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump told attorneys Friday there will likely be a hearing in early February, at the earliest, to address allegations filed against Willis accusing her of having an inappropriate relationship with a special prosecutor on her team.

[...]

Defendant Michael Roman, a former Trump campaign staffer, previously filed a motion Monday seeking to dismiss the charges against him, alleging that Willis "engaged in a personal, romantic relationship" with prosecutor Nathan Wade, which allegedly resulted in financial gain for both of them.

[...]

"So obviously my plan with this was to allow the state an opportunity to respond before setting a hearing date," Judge McAfee said Friday. "Early February would be the soonest that would be happen."

[...]

Willis, meanwhile, has been subpoenaed as part of Wade's divorce proceedings, according to a court filing in a separate case that was obtained by ABC News.

The filing alleged that Wills and Wade's relationship began "while Wade was married" and that he filed for divorce "a day after his first contract with Willis commenced."

Friday's hearing came on the same day that the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee announced an investigation of Wade, with committee Chairman Jim Jordan sending him a letter requesting communications and documents related to "the coordination of the Fulton County District Attorney's Office with other politically motivated investigations and prosecutions and the potential misuse of federal funds."

  MSN

I may not be alive by the time all this is resolved.  Unless Trump gets back in office next year.  Then, my chances are pretty good.

UPDATE 01/15/2024:

Fani under the microscope

Maybe not a good look.  Maybe a problem.  But what does it have to do with Roman's culpability?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 01/09/2024:

UPDATE 01/20/2024

Ooops

Next stop: Supreme Court

Compare and contrast

The folks who pled guilty in Fani Willis' RICO case were required, as part of the deal, to apologize for their crime.  Now, I find that a ridiculous requirement, because...well, you figure it out.

And here are three of the apologies.  Scott Hall, bail bondsman, and two Trump attorneys: Sidney Powell and Ken Chesebro (recall, a third Trump attorney, Jenna Ellis, read her apology with sniffles, blaming others for misleading her):

The sincerity and remorse fairly jump off the page on those last two.

 ...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Willis names a date

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

About those leaked plea deal videos...

You were right to suspect the defense.

"In being transparent with the court, and to make sure that nobody else gets blamed for what happened, and so I can go to sleep well tonight, judge, I did release those videos to one outlet. And in all candor to the court, I need the court to know that," said Jonathan Miller, an attorney for former Coffee County election supervisor Misty Hampton.

[...]

Most of the 45-minute hearing — conducted live in Georgia and via Zoom for all of the attorneys — was devoted to a discussion of proposals for a protective order governing evidence exchanged between the parties in the case going forward.

Willis’ prosecutors wanted a blanket order on all the evidence. Co-defendant David Shafer’s legal team proposed an alternative in which the state would specifically designate certain evidence as sensitive. Prosecutors agreed with Shafer’s counter-proposal, as did most of the defense attorneys for the other indicted co-conspirators, including Trump attorney Steve Sadow.

  The Messenger

Still waiting for the judge to rule.  Will post here as an update.

UPDATE:

"The release of these confidential video recordings is clearly intended to intimidate witnesses in this case, subjecting them to harassment and threats prior to trial," the Fulton County District Attorney's Office said in a motion on Tuesday.

[...]

At the hearing on Wednesday, the district attorney's office consented to a protective order drafted by attorneys for defendant David Shafer.

McAfee said he would draft the order based on Shafer's proposal.

  Raw Story

Miller says he released the videos because he thought his client was helped by it, and the public should know.  The judge questioned whether there was any reason to release it before trial.

A representative of the media in general objected to a protective order at all.  The judge acknowledged the need for public transparency in court proceedings but suggested that pretrial discovery does not fit into that category, and he expresses concern for keeping a jury pool unprejudiced by it.

The only thing wrong with Joyce's analysis, in my opinion, is that she makes it sound like the judge chastised Miller.  In essence, I suppose he did, but the judge's bearing and comments are always respectful and not a challenge, but an invitation to the attorneys to examine their point and show them his.

From what I understand, this is a judge new to the top tier on the Georgia bench, but I'd say he earned it.  I like him.  He always seems to know a lot about the law, and he always seems amiable and respectful in his comments.  

Final order to be posted here as an update.

UPDATE 03:55 pm:  The order

Can't argue with that.

The order requires prosecutors to physically label evidence it seeks to protect as “sensitive material” and gives defense attorneys 14 days to contest any designations they disagree with.

[...]

“The Court has an interest in ensuring that all parties retain their right to a fair trial before an unbiased jury, a process that could become unattainable should the public be allowed to vet every piece of unfiltered evidence months before trial,” McAfee wrote in the filing.

  NBC

Further recorded statements

In addition to the leaked videos of Ellis and Powell, the Washington Post obtained two others from Chesebro and Hall.

The Post [obtained portions of] statements of the four defendants who have accepted plea deals in the Georgia case — recordings that they were required to make under the terms of their deals and that were intended to lay out what they know that could be used against the other defendants in the case.

[...]

Chesebro disclosed in his recorded statement that at a previously unreported White House meeting, he briefed Trump on election challenges in Arizona and summarized a memo in which he offered advice on assembling alternate slates of electors in key battlegrounds to cast ballots for Trump despite Biden’s victories in those states.

[...]

The audible portions of the Fulton recordings reviewed by The Post do not appear to directly implicate Trump. At one point in [Sidney] Powell’s interview, she said Trump really believed he had won — a statement that could help his defense. But Powell also said that Giuliani spoke of a plan to gain access to voting equipment at a Dec. 18, 2020, meeting with Trump and others in the Oval Office. And Hall appeared to implicate another defendant, lawyer Robert Cheeley, describing Cheeley as part of the “brain trust” planning the Coffee County scheme.

[...]

Chesebro also disclosed for the first time that he played a role transporting documents signed by Wisconsin Trump electors to Capitol Hill as part of a Trump campaign plan to present Vice President Mike Pence with competing slates of electors.

[...]

Hall claimed that his role in the alleged breach of election equipment in rural Coffee County was simply that of a “political tourist,” and that he spent $10,000 of his own money to fly there on Jan. 7, 2021, purely “for s---s and giggles.” But he also complained that no one reimbursed him for the charter flight, explaining, “Pardon my French, but I’ve been f---ed through this whole thing.”

[...]

Chesebro told prosecutors that Trump asked “four or five questions” [in a Dec. 16, 2020, Oval Office meeting he attended] and that he summarized for Trump his Nov. 18, 2020, memo to the campaign in which he called Jan. 6, 2021, “the real deadline” for settling the state’s electoral votes — though it was unclear whether Trump reacted to his analysis.

[...]

Chesebro told prosecutors he began communicating directly with [Trump attorney John] Eastman in late December 2020 and helped edit a Dec. 23, 2020, memo in which Eastman laid out the various scenarios and described Pence as the “ultimate arbiter” of the election outcome.

Chesebro downplayed his role in the crafting of the “substance” of Eastman’s memo, telling prosecutors that he had “offered to help” edit.

“I was happy to express his ideas more clearly,” Chesebro said.

[...]

Chesebro downplayed his role in the crafting of the “substance” of Eastman’s memo, telling prosecutors that he had “offered to help” edit.

“I was happy to express his ideas more clearly,” Chesebro said.

Chesebro repeatedly said he didn’t recall his reaction to Eastman’s legal theories at the time. But one prosecutor pointed to a Dec. 23 email sent by Eastman to Epshteyn and Chesebro with the draft that Chesebro had edited.

“Really awesome,” Chesebro wrote.

Asked why he replied that way, Chesebro insisted it wasn’t an endorsement of Eastman’s ideas.

“It was a really great brainstorm document. I didn’t mean it as I agreed,” Chesebro said.

  WaPo

Totally believable.

Chesebro claimed after hearing part of Trump’s [January 6 Ellipse] speech he joined the throngs of Trump supporters as they marched toward the U.S. Capitol building. The former Trump attorney said he walked near the building at the same time as right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones — a moment captured on videos first reported by CNN.

The former Trump campaign attorney insisted he did not know Jones and had not previously spoken to him and that their simultaneous arrival was mere coincidence.

[...]

Chesebro repeatedly claimed he did not know what was happening on Capitol Hill, including that Trump supporters had violently breached the Capitol building. He said he saw nobody entering the building and saw no violence. He told prosecutors that he “wandered” around for “an hour, an hour and a half” before going back to the Trump hotel where he saw footage of the assault airing on a television near the bar and realized the full extent of the attack.

[...]

Chesebro claimed he did not communicate with any Trump allies that day.

Really?

Hall’s video recording was meandering and, on multiple occasions, his unwillingness or inability to answer the questions caused his own lawyer, Jeffrey Weiner, to become even more exasperated than the prosecutors.

Hall described [co-defendant attorney Robert] Cheeley as part of a “brain trust” — and himself as a “water boy” — in organizing the foray into Coffee County. He also said he was just a “political tourist” who wanted to observe the effort to copy data from the county election office.

“I was curious,” he said.

[...]

Hall also said Cheeley played a role in trying to locate Freeman, the Fulton election worker — and probably enlisted his help doing so, given his skill set as a bail bondsman, but he claimed not to recall for sure.

“Bob would have probably called me and said, you know, hey, you know, we’re trying to locate this person,” Hall said.

The biggest shit in his entire life and he just can't recall.

 

She missed a step there by not asking for that prior to releasing the videos in discovery, it seems.

UPDATE 12:56 pm:  It wasn't Willis' misstep...

Did the judge miss this?  

Willis and her team originally requested a protective order over evidence in the case on Sept. 27.

[...]

During a hearing in the case last month, before Powell, Chesebro and Ellis entered guilty pleas, McAfee asked about the status of that proposed protective order and a defense attorney for Chesebro said the order was still being negotiated between prosecutors and the numerous defense attorneys on the case.

  WaPo

Well that's not good.  It could be, however, that the judge's question served as a reminder to one of the unscrupulous participants (defense, I presume*) that there was still time to leak.

“These confidential video recordings were not released by the State to any party other than the defendants charged in the indictment, pursuant to the discovery process as required by law,” the filing said. “The release of these confidential video recordings is clearly intended to intimidate witnesses in this case, subjecting them to harassment and threats prior to trial, constitutes indirect communication about the facts of this case with codefendants and witnesses, and obstructs the administration of justice, in violation of the conditions of release imposed on each defendant.”

Prosecutors said they would no longer share “confidential video recordings of proffers” to any defense attorneys involved in the case and said they must view those statements in person at the district attorney’s office. “They may take notes, but they will be prohibited from creating any recordings or reproductions.”

[...]

Steve Sadow, the lead Georgia attorney for Trump, emailed prosecutors saying the leak of the recordings did not come from him or another co-counsel on the case and asked prosecutors if someone in the district attorney’s office disclosed it to the media.

“The State had nothing to do with leaking any information to the media!” Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor and lead government attorney on the case, replied.

An attorney for Harrison Floyd, a Trump ally charged for his alleged role in the harassment of election worker Ruby Freeman, replied to the chain on Tuesday morning, writing, “It was Harrison Floyd’s team.” Prosecutors said in the filing Floyd’s attorney later said that statement was a typo and Floyd’s team had not shared the information with the media.

UPDATE 03:29 pm:

So maybe a misstep by Willis' office after all.

What happens to the negotiations?

*UPDATE 11/16/2023:  Yes.  It was the defense.

At the hearing on Wednesday, the district attorney's office consented to a protective order [in which the state would specifically designate certain evidence as sensitive] drafted by attorneys for defendant David Shafer.

McAfee said he would draft the order based on Shafer's proposal.

  Raw Story

UPDATE 12/15/2023: The apologies.