Romance and two prosecutors threatening to overturn Trump’s trial for election fraud in Georgia | USA election

District Attorney for Fulton (Georgia, USA) Fannie Willis is a tough woman, as she describes herself. In August last year, he indicted Donald Trump and 18 others on suspicion of forming a mafia-style gang to rig the 2020 election results in that state. The statement of charges in one of the most complex judicial cases against a former president was the result of a meticulous two-and-a-half-year investigation. But now he is the one who finds himself under the judge’s scrutiny. Her affair with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to help with the investigation, could remove her from the case and force the case against the Republican to be dropped.

The hearing in Room 5A of the Fulton courthouse for Judge Scott McAfee to decide whether Willis should drop his life case had all the makings of a televised soap opera this week. Evidence included love affairs, trips to exotic locations, cruises in the Caribbean, visits to tattoo parlors in Central America, and thousands of dollars in cash hidden in homes, including alleged betrayals by ex-boyfriends. And more serious episodes of humiliation, harassment and death threats in the most politically consequential court case since special counsel Kenneth Starr’s investigation into President Bill Clinton a quarter century ago.

At the center of it all is Fanny Willis, the county’s first female district attorney, black, democratic and very combative, answering questions of a very intimate nature with direct statements like Kicks: “Mr. Wade is a Southern gentleman. Me, not so much”; “Man is not a plan. He is a fellow”; “Men generally believe that a relationship is over when there is no sexual act. Women don’t consider it over until it happens. K A difficult conversation.” Or, in one of the most memorable moments of his testimony, he turned to defense attorney Ashley Merchant to criticize her: “You’re confused. You think they are judging me. “Those people will be judged for trying to steal the election in 2020.”

The controversy erupted in January, when attorneys for Michael Roman, one of Trump’s co-accused, presented an allegation that was a legal bombshell: the existence of an emotional link between Willis and Wade that they claimed created a conflict. Interests. The prosecutor, they said, received financial leverage to hire her then-boyfriend in November 2021, who, along with his salary as special prosecutor – he has earned $650,000 (about 600,000 euros) during this time – paid for a series of luxury vacations. is During the development of the investigation against the former President for both in places like the Bahamas, Aruba or the California Valley of Napa.

Willis and Wade admitted in early February that they had a “personal relationship” that ended in the summer of 2023. The two insist, however, that they only became a couple when they were already hired. And they categorically deny that the complainant profited as a result of the relationship: according to both, she always paid her share of their activities together.

This Thursday, defense attorneys questioned how Wade got his paycheck and how the prosecutor reimbursed him on those trips. “Ms. Willis is a strong and independent woman … she will always pay her dues,” the special prosecutor said. She, as he explained, returned the money in cash, which the lawyer never bothered to deposit into his bank account. Where did that money come from? “With my work and my sweat… My father always instilled in me from a young age that as a black woman it’s good to always have bills in the house to cover six months of expenses,” she confirmed in Fuchsia. Contrast dress with suit. Dark in the courtroom, sitting in the witness seat as if it belonged to him. His father, John Floyd, a retired lawyer, who was also called to testify, confirmed that having stacks of bills in the house “is a black custom.”

Trump’s defense also cited a former friend and colleague of Willis — now at odds with him — who said the relationship with Wade began in 2019, before the two made claims. Both denied this statement.

Judge McAfee has indicated he will convene a new session late next week or early next week for closing arguments. It is not known when it will issue its resolution. The judge has made it clear that he takes the situation very seriously: when he convened a hearing this week, he warned that the “appearance” of a conflict of interest would be enough to disqualify a prosecutor.

A historical trial

His decision, whatever it is, will have a decisive impact on the fate of the case, one of four facing Donald Trump that Republicans cannot file if he returns to the White House. If Willis continues to lead the case, it is possible that he will weaken in a trial that promises to be historic. Or it’s more difficult to pick an impartial jury against him.

If McAffee chooses to disqualify her — and with her, her entire team — the case will be assigned to another prosecutor in Georgia. The appointment will come to the Finance Council of that State. The new person in charge can decide whether he or she wants to continue with the case as it is, introduce changes – all sorts of things: drop charges or charge more people, add charges or withdraw them. Pull – or even archive the case.

Other voices have called for Willis to take the initiative herself and recuse herself from the case. “It’s the right thing to do,” lawyer Norm Eisen, former chief ethics officer in President Barack Obama’s White House, declared at a recent briefing. “The conversation about these issues has become a distraction” from the most important issue, “the overwhelming amount of evidence that justified the decision to indict Mr. Trump and his co-conspirators,” he said.

Each step in the process extends the timeframe for Trump’s trial, should it be held. That’s something that works in favor of the former president, who, in addition to impeachment, wants to delay every one of his judicial proceedings until the November elections. Willis asked for the trial to begin in August.

Finding a replacement isn’t easy either. Only a handful of prosecutors’ offices, all of them in metropolitan Atlanta, have the necessary qualifications. And in this week’s hearing, it was also revealed how much abuse, violent incidents and death threats Willis has received since she began investigating the former president, forcing her to change her address. Complainant has to move with escort.

A witness at this week’s hearing, former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, belied that point. He was called to confirm that Willis had previously offered him the position Wade had occupied. Barnes, considered a legal stalwart in that state, turned it down: the pay seemed insufficient and he had “mouths to feed” in his firm. But he also knew that accepting the case would make him the target of the same violence. “I lived with bodyguards for four years of my life and I didn’t like it,” he revealed on Friday, adding, “I wasn’t ready to live with bodyguards for the rest of my life.”

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