Georgia grand jury investigating Trump returns indictments

[emailking]

Seems like a nothing burger as far as Trump's case is concerned. A true bill has already been obtained.

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

These aged well.

[wbrocks67]

"Attorneys will likely have to return in next few weeks to discuss outstanding issues.

Timeline for disqualification decision not totally clear."

I'm sorry, what? We had to rush this hearing into existence only for minor details to stretch this out for a few more *weeks*? That is borderline insanity. There's no reason whatsoever that this disqualification decision should not be coming within the next week. I hope this means that a decision can be made without those "few weeks of outstanding issues" because otherwise that is insane.

[wbrocks67]

Anyway, after watching a lot of clips from the last two days, honestly I think most objective observers would argue that these hearings actually *helped* Willis. There were a lot of accusations flying around about her and Wade and while the entire circus helped sully Willis a bit, it also gave her a platform that she wouldn't have had otherwise to dispute them - in turn, actually giving her a lot of credibility since people got to see her defend herself face to face with the accusations. The defense came off way too egregious and flimsy; it was obvious they were wading into too much irrelevant territory, and that this was coming off very disingenuous. Not to mention, they only had one flop witness who was probably the least credible out of the bunch.

I'll admit, before the hearings and just hearing about the news, I was annoyed by Willis, but after seeing all of this play out, it gave me a newfound respect for her (not willing to play the games that the Trump lawyers were trying to play) and gave the entire case a lot more credibility with her behind the helm. Some may argue that she went too far yesterday, but I think in turn given the lack of evidence by the defense, she was rightfully upset by what was happening. It also seems clear there is very obviously a lack of evidence to knock her off the case, and most of these hearings were a joke.

[brucejoel99]

"Attorneys will likely have to return in next few weeks to discuss outstanding issues.

Timeline for disqualification decision not totally clear."

I'm sorry, what? We had to rush this hearing into existence only for minor details to stretch this out for a few more *weeks*? That is borderline insanity. There's no reason whatsoever that this disqualification decision should not be coming within the next week. I hope this means that a decision can be made without those "few weeks of outstanding issues" because otherwise that is insane.

Confusing dissonance. You think Judge McAfee "rush[ed] this hearing into existence" (even though it was scheduled over 4 *weeks* ago & only 2 *weeks* after Roman's complaint filing), which you say is bad, yet now you're advocating precisely for him to rush his "next few weeks" timeline for outstanding issues "within the next week" as the solution here? Pick one.

[wbrocks67]

"Attorneys will likely have to return in next few weeks to discuss outstanding issues.

Timeline for disqualification decision not totally clear."

I'm sorry, what? We had to rush this hearing into existence only for minor details to stretch this out for a few more *weeks*? That is borderline insanity. There's no reason whatsoever that this disqualification decision should not be coming within the next week. I hope this means that a decision can be made without those "few weeks of outstanding issues" because otherwise that is insane.

Confusing dissonance. You think Judge McAfee "rush[ed] this hearing into existence" (even though it was scheduled over 4 *weeks* ago & only 2 *weeks* after Roman's complaint filing), which you say is bad, yet now you're advocating precisely for him to rush his "next few weeks" timeline for outstanding issues "within the next week" as the solution here? Pick one.

You're missing my point - Roman's filing was only 2 weeks ago and yet everything happened within 2 weeks. That's pretty fast in judicial terms, given the amount of effort that goes into these hearings. Not sure what else McAfee needs to see here - if they were able to fit all that pre-hearing preparation into 2-4 weeks, there's no reason why a decision from him needs to take another few weeks. This isn't something that needs a huge 10 page decision on - it's a very clear cut yes or no on disqualification. Taking weeks on end to come to a conclusion on this just gives the Trump team exactly what they want - more delay. McAfee needs to see fit to just get this settled already.

[brucejoel99]

"Attorneys will likely have to return in next few weeks to discuss outstanding issues.

Timeline for disqualification decision not totally clear."

I'm sorry, what? We had to rush this hearing into existence only for minor details to stretch this out for a few more *weeks*? That is borderline insanity. There's no reason whatsoever that this disqualification decision should not be coming within the next week. I hope this means that a decision can be made without those "few weeks of outstanding issues" because otherwise that is insane.

Confusing dissonance. You think Judge McAfee "rush[ed] this hearing into existence" (even though it was scheduled over 4 *weeks* ago & only 2 *weeks* after Roman's complaint filing), which you say is bad, yet now you're advocating precisely for him to rush his "next few weeks" timeline for outstanding issues "within the next week" as the solution here? Pick one.

You're missing my point - Roman's filing was only 2 weeks ago and yet everything happened within 2 weeks. That's pretty fast in judicial terms, given the amount of effort that goes into these hearings. Not sure what else McAfee needs to see here - if they were able to fit all that pre-hearing preparation into 2-4 weeks, there's no reason why a decision from him needs to take another few weeks. This isn't something that needs a huge 10 page decision on - it's a very clear cut yes or no on disqualification. Taking weeks on end to come to a conclusion on this just gives the Trump team exactly what they want - more delay. McAfee needs to see fit to just get this settled already.

Please consider taking a closer look at what I said. Roman filed 6 weeks ago. That's what 2 weeks prior to 4 weeks ago was. The amount of effort that went into these hearings was more than commensurate with the nature of the allegations as both facially proferred & responded to by the prosecution as well as with the high-profile stakes of the underlying prosecution. What you're essentially asking is for Judge McAfee to have taken the prosecution's word at face value with no further inquiry into the allegations' credibility. C'mon.

[Dan the Roman]

"Attorneys will likely have to return in next few weeks to discuss outstanding issues.

Timeline for disqualification decision not totally clear."

I'm sorry, what? We had to rush this hearing into existence only for minor details to stretch this out for a few more *weeks*? That is borderline insanity. There's no reason whatsoever that this disqualification decision should not be coming within the next week. I hope this means that a decision can be made without those "few weeks of outstanding issues" because otherwise that is insane.

Confusing dissonance. You think Judge McAfee "rush[ed] this hearing into existence" (even though it was scheduled over 4 *weeks* ago & only 2 *weeks* after Roman's complaint filing), which you say is bad, yet now you're advocating precisely for him to rush his "next few weeks" timeline for outstanding issues "within the next week" as the solution here? Pick one.

You're missing my point - Roman's filing was only 2 weeks ago and yet everything happened within 2 weeks. That's pretty fast in judicial terms, given the amount of effort that goes into these hearings. Not sure what else McAfee needs to see here - if they were able to fit all that pre-hearing preparation into 2-4 weeks, there's no reason why a decision from him needs to take another few weeks. This isn't something that needs a huge 10 page decision on - it's a very clear cut yes or no on disqualification. Taking weeks on end to come to a conclusion on this just gives the Trump team exactly what they want - more delay. McAfee needs to see fit to just get this settled already.

Please consider taking a closer look at what I said. Roman filed 6 weeks ago. That's what 2 weeks prior to 4 weeks ago was. The amount of effort that went into these hearings was more than commensurate with the nature of the allegations as both facially proferred & responded to by the prosecution as well as with the high-profile stakes of the underlying prosecution. What you're essentially asking is for Judge McAfee to have taken the prosecution's word at face value with no further inquiry into the allegations' credibility. C'mon.

I think we have reached the end of the road re the affair allegations, but the last two days have left the Judge with instances of potential perjury. It is quite possible that in trying to disguise embarrassing behavior that was neither illegal or a basis for disqualification, Willis' office may have been less than honest, and there is probably a much stronger case that there may have been an effort to help Wade in his divorce case. I feel that is actually the stronger conflict of interest concern, and in that respect today did not go as well for Willis as yesterday(or this morning with her father) because the way in which the afternoon's witness unraveled suggests that even if the affair was later, Willis may have (or more likely Wade after he was hired was allowed to) used official resources/reimbursements to help Wade in his divorce.

That is why Gillan, the only competent lawyer involved, is so focused on the cash/reimbursement issue and could not care less about when the affair started. He is trying to prove that Wade had access to financial assets he failed to report. And if Willis reimbursed him in cash to aid Wade in hiding assets(which would have been revealed if they were deposited) then there is an issue even if he was getting reimbursed because he was probably not supposed to be spending money he didn't have. This is also why Willis put so much work into establishing her motives for keeping large amounts of cash around and preferring it(including her father's testimony) because she needs a reason why Wade asking to be reimbursed in cash did not raise obvious red flags for her.

The Judge needs to spend time on this because technical and tenuous or not, if it comes out during divorce proceedings that Wade committed perjury at this hearing, then there will be demands to repeat this entire circus to see if Willis did so as well. So he needs to do everything possible to clear up the perjury issues now.

[Landslide Lyndon]

.

https://twitter.com/middleageriot/status/1758285726423408988

[GeorgiaModerate]

The AJC (Atlanta newspaper) reprinted a profile of Judge McAfee they published last August.  He's a quite interesting person.

https://www.ajc.com/news/meet-the-34-year-old-judge-who-will-oversee-trump-prosecution/BSRME6N2DJFYDGZ3OGBOJUFUKA/

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/20/politics/willis-wade-cash-payment-napa-valley-winery/index.html

After spending more than two hours tasting wine at a Napa Valley estate with her top prosecutor on the Georgia election subversion case, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis reached into her purse and pulled out about $400 in cash.

Willis used the money to pay for two bottles of wine – each valued at roughly $150 – and the $50 tasting, according to Stan Brody, who said he hosted Willis and a guest he later learned was Nathan Wade, at Acumen Wines in early 2023.

Brody, who was the estate ambassador for Acumen Wines that day, told CNN he was surprised when Willis paid using hundreds of dollars in cash – a memorable transaction, he said, as such cash sales are rare in Napa Valley. The self-described “news junkie” said his memory was jogged as he watched Willis and Wade testify last week about their romantic relationship and bat down allegations of self-dealing while under oath.

[brucejoel99]

https://twitter.com/AnnaBower/status/1761081854533267549https://twitter.com/AnnaBower/status/1761085793513201782

[Redban]

https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/23/trump-trial-fani-willis-nathan-wade-cellphone-records

Georgia prosecutor visited Fani Willis’ locality at least 35 times before hiring, cellphone records show

The Georgia election racketeering case against Donald Trump and his allies hit another potential stumbling block on Friday when the court was provided with cellphone records that appear to show prosecutor Nathan Wade made at least 35 visits to district attorney Fani Willis’s neighborhood before she hired him.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/02/23/fani-willis-nathan-wade-cellphone-data/

The data, obtained from AT&T with a subpoena and analyzed by a criminal defense investigator hired by the Trump team, appears to show that Nathan Wade, the lead prosecutor on the case, traveled multiple times in 2021 to the area near a condo that Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) was renting — including one visit that appeared to have occurred overnight fewer than two months before Wade was hired in November 2021. Both have said under oath that while they had been friends for several years, their romantic relationship did not begin until early 2022.

[Woody]

https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/23/trump-trial-fani-willis-nathan-wade-cellphone-records

Georgia prosecutor visited Fani Willis’ locality at least 35 times before hiring, cellphone records show

The Georgia election racketeering case against Donald Trump and his allies hit another potential stumbling block on Friday when the court was provided with cellphone records that appear to show prosecutor Nathan Wade made at least 35 visits to district attorney Fani Willis’s neighborhood before she hired him.

[brucejoel99]

The Georgia election racketeering case against Donald Trump and his allies hit another potential stumbling block on Friday when the court was provided with cellphone records that appear to show prosecutor Nathan Wade made at least 35 visits to district attorney Fani Willis’s neighborhood before she hired him.

Gonna need more than just placing him within a mile of Hapeville, based on data from 2 cell phone towers that are each about half-a-mile away from the neighborhood, which is right next to the airport.

[Redban]

The Georgia election racketeering case against Donald Trump and his allies hit another potential stumbling block on Friday when the court was provided with cellphone records that appear to show prosecutor Nathan Wade made at least 35 visits to district attorney Fani Willis’s neighborhood before she hired him.

Gonna need more than just placing him within a mile of Hapeville, based on data from 2 cell phone towers that are each about half-a-mile away from the neighborhood, which is right next to the airport.

Taken in isolation, that cellphone tower data alone wouldn’t be enough, for those reasons. But in conjunction with all the other data, the totality of the evidence is enough to support to disbarment proceedings or even investigations of perjury . At some point, you have to strain yourself to argue it’s all coincidence

The wash-post article also refers to text message and calls that took place in the evening (ie outside working hours):

“ According to the filing, the cellphone data shows 2,000 voice calls and 12,000 text messages between Willis and Wade over an 11-month period in 2021. A “heat map” shows that “a prevalence of calls” were made in the evening, the filing states.”

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/ZcohenCNN/status/1761183473643974756

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/bluestein/status/1761200602221273596

[Landslide Lyndon]

No wonder that Trump and his minions want to turn this trial into a reality show.
Next thing you know Trump's lawyers will present "evidence" found in Willis and Wade's trash.

[Birdish]

The Trump team has turned this into an embarrassing spectacle.

Cellphone towers in a densely packed urban center? Maybe it's because I live in the NYC metro area and travel extensively through it, but that seems beyond circumstantial.

[brucejoel99]

https://twitter.com/ZcohenCNN/status/1761183473643974756

https://twitter.com/bluestein/status/1761200602221273596

https://twitter.com/ASFleischman/status/1761386262160650747

[brucejoel99]

https://twitter.com/annabower/status/1761868044526100913https://twitter.com/bradmossesq/status/1761872974217384230

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/AnnaBower/status/1762554189933085100

Follow Anna for the latest on this hearing, which could be anything between explosive and a nothingburger.  I honestly don't know what to expect.

[emailking]

From her X thread so far it sounds more like nothingburger. He doesn't know when they started dating, doesn't know when he learned they were dating, doesn't recall seeing or sending text messages about them dating.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/BradMossEsq/status/1762580512302932386

[wbrocks67]

This entire thing has been a mess for MAGA. Every time they try and have one of these hearings, it seems to backfire on them even further.