Georgia grand jury investigating Trump returns indictments

[emailking]

Hopefully they will reach a full settlement and we can avoid a pointless delay in this important case.

[Redban]

Is Fani Willis going the Michael Avennati route? I remember how the Dems were so enarmoured with Avennati that they were talking about a presidential run, kinda like how Dems saw Fani as a strong and heroic woman last year. Now, you never hear Dems talk about Avennati because of the shame. This thread has gotten more quiet since Fani's issues have come to light

https://nypost.com/2024/01/31/news/trump-prosecutor-under-probe-for-misuse-of-taxpayer-funds-fired-worker-who-exposed-federal-grant-abuse-report/

Fulton County DA Fani Willis ... is being called out by a former employee [i.e. staffer Amanda Timpson] for apparently abusing another federal grant.

Willis ... was confronted by staffer Amanda Timpson in a Nov. 19, 2021, meeting after the DA’s former campaign social media manager Michael Cuffee planned to use part of a nearly $500,000 grant for travel, computers and “swag,” according to audio obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

“He wanted to do things with grants that were impossible, and I kept telling him, like, ‘We can’t do that,’” Timpson is heard telling Willis in the recording. “He told everybody … ‘We’re going to get MacBooks, we’re going to get swag, we’re going to use it for travel.’ I said, ‘You cannot do that, it’s a very, very specific grant.’”
...
on Jan.14, 2022, Willis fired Timpson, who oversaw the office’s juvenile diversion program, and had her escorted out of the building with seven armed investigators, the ex-employee told the Free Beacon.
...
“My case and Nathan Wade’s case are very similar when you break them down point by point,” Timpson told the outlet. “Ethical violations, abuse of power, and the misuse of county, state, and federal funds.”

[emailking]

Avennati was trying to extort dozens of millions of dollars. Willis maybe got a few free trips she shouldn't have. I don't really see them as comparable. She's brought a lot more bad people to justice than Avennati ever did.

[Redban]

DA Fani Willis, prosecutor Nathan Wade should step down from Trump election fraud case: expert

“It’s a terrible look,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani said of Willis’ alleged “clandestine” romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

You are prosecuting probably the most politicized trial in American history. And to do something foolish like this, you are a public servant you need to make sure that people have faith in our criminal justice system,” Rahmani said.
…
It’s incredibly foolish, it’s potentially unethical and maybe even criminal,” Rahmani said. “If I were her, I would say ‘I’m walking myself off from the case. Wade is no longer handling the case. The career prosecutors from my office will continue to handle it and I won’t have anything to do with it,'” the lawyer said
…
Still, Rahmani said that the bid by Trump co-defendant Michael Roman to get the criminal charges against him tossed on conflict-of-interest grounds based on the alleged affair isn’t likely to succeed since it wouldn’t change “the merit of the case.”

https://nypost.com/2024/02/01/news/da-fani-willis-nathan-wade-should-step-down-from-trump-case-expert/

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

DA Fani Willis, prosecutor Nathan Wade should step down from Trump election fraud case: expert

“It’s a terrible look,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani said of Willis’ alleged “clandestine” romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

You are prosecuting probably the most politicized trial in American history. And to do something foolish like this, you are a public servant you need to make sure that people have faith in our criminal justice system,” Rahmani said.
…
It’s incredibly foolish, it’s potentially unethical and maybe even criminal,” Rahmani said. “If I were her, I would say ‘I’m walking myself off from the case. Wade is no longer handling the case. The career prosecutors from my office will continue to handle it and I won’t have anything to do with it,'” the lawyer said
…
Still, Rahmani said that the bid by Trump co-defendant Michael Roman to get the criminal charges against him tossed on conflict-of-interest grounds based on the alleged affair isn’t likely to succeed since it wouldn’t change “the merit of the case.”

https://nypost.com/2024/02/01/news/da-fani-willis-nathan-wade-should-step-down-from-trump-case-expert/

I get that Trump and his proxies repeat it a lot (so of course the right eats it up), but I've yet to see any actual evidence of this alleged affair that has even the weight of, say, the allegations that Donald Trump is a child rapist

[Redban]

I get that Trump and his proxies repeat it a lot (so of course the right eats it up), but I've yet to see any actual evidence of this alleged affair that has even the weight of, say, the allegations that Donald Trump is a child rapist

There are bank records indicating that Wade bought items, like travel tickets, for Fani (i.e. he bought the tickets in her name, and Fani used them. So we logically deduce he bought them just for her). The tickets were for trips to Miami and such, payable to agencies like "Vacation Express" and "Royal Caribbean Cruise." From that detail, we can deduce that the travel tickets were for romantic getaways, not business or platonic meetings. And Neither Fani nor Wade have publicly denied the accusations. Wade's wife has a divorce proceeding against Wade, and she alleges infidelity

Even the most fierce anti-Trump Democrats have moved away from "there is no actual evidence." The new talking point is, "So Fani is sketchy and corrupt, but it doesn't affect the facts in Trump's election case."

[Redban]

Fani is in trouble now!

Jim Jordan subpoenas Trump prosecutor Fani Willis as controversy rages over her hiring of alleged lover Nathan Wade

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan issued a subpoena Friday to Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis requiring her to hand over documents that could pertain to her alleged affair with the man she hired to be the top prosecutor against Donald Trump.

https://nypost.com/2024/02/02/news/jim-jordan-subpoenas-trump-prosecutor-fani-willis/

[Landslide Lyndon]

Fani is in trouble now!

Jim Jordan subpoenas Trump prosecutor Fani Willis as controversy rages over her hiring of alleged lover Nathan Wade

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan issued a subpoena Friday to Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis requiring her to hand over documents that could pertain to her alleged affair with the man she hired to be the top prosecutor against Donald Trump.

https://nypost.com/2024/02/02/news/jim-jordan-subpoenas-trump-prosecutor-fani-willis/

Hahahahahaha!!!

[DrScholl]

Attacking the prosecutor doesn't refute the charges. Where is Trump's actual defense? Oh, that's right, he doesn't have one.

[emailking]

Even the most fierce anti-Trump Democrats have moved away from "there is no actual evidence." The new talking point is, "So Fani is sketchy and corrupt, but it doesn't affect the facts in Trump's election case."

I haven't heard any democrat say she's sketchy or corrupt or imply such.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Even the most fierce anti-Trump Democrats have moved away from "there is no actual evidence." The new talking point is, "So Fani is sketchy and corrupt, but it doesn't affect the facts in Trump's election case."

I haven't heard any democrat say she's sketchy or corrupt or imply such.

I will go as far as to say that she displayed exceptionally poor judgement.  It's probably not a technical conflict of interest, in contrast to her donating to Burt Jones's opponent in November 2022 -- a conflict that caused her to be removed from that specific prosection and replaced with a different prosecutor.  I don't think this damages the case from a legal standpoint, but at a minimum it's terrible optics; it doesn't pass the headline test^*.  At a minimum, Wade should withdraw from the case.

* - From ethics training: if you're contemplating doing something, think about how it would look in the headlines.  If you don't like the answer, don't do it.

(Additional note: over the years I've seen many workplace romances.  Almost all of them ended badly -- including every one where one of the people was in a position of some authority.)

[President Johnson]

Attacking the prosecutor doesn't refute the charges. Where is Trump's actual defense? Oh, that's right, he doesn't have one.

His sole intent is to delegitimize the entire trial or an eventual conviction. That perfectly feeds into the narrative that Trump is a victim of an excessive Deep State that can't beat him at the ballot box.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/stphnfwlr/status/1753486652679622691

[emailking]

No personal relationship when he was hired. There you go!

[Redban]

[GeorgiaModerate]

I don't suppose he read the details that their relationship started after Wade was hired.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Whether it or not it breaks ethics rules (and if it doesn't, why?!), workplace affairs are "not a good look" for a public official.

[brucejoel99]

No personal relationship when he was hired. There you go!

https://twitter.com/rgoodlaw/status/1753494294982214011

[Redban]

[emailking]

So overall it's a nothingburger albeit a juicy one.

[brucejoel99]

So it's good that he's already in possession of a subpoena to testify under oath at that Feb. 15th evidentiary hearing, then.

[Ferguson97]

So, it sounds like this is, at worst, an issue for the Fulton County DA office's HR department?

[Redban]

Roman’s attorney filed a response already. Wade may be lying

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24401676-roman-reply-to-willis

[brucejoel99]

Roman’s attorney filed a response already. Wade may be lying

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24401676-roman-reply-to-willis

https://twitter.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1753546362157940888

https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1753542711137702394

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Attacking the prosecutor doesn't refute the charges. Where is Trump's actual defense? Oh, that's right, he doesn't have one.

His defense is getting back into  1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. This is a delaying action to help him get there.