Below is a slightly expanded version of my column on Fox.com on the hearing in Georgia over allegations of improper conduct by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. In her combative testimony, Willis looked strikingly like the man she is prosecuting.
Here is the column:
“It’s a lie! It’s a lie!” Those words from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis captured the bombastic testimony of the prosecutor accused of violating a host of ethical and local rules in the hiring of Nathan Wade, a former lover. The sudden appearance of Willis in the courtroom seemed like a Perry Mason remake as she stormed to the stand with a look of sheer lethality. She proceeded to denounce the media, prosecutors, and a former girlfriend for different levels of betrayal.
However, in the end, Willis looked strikingly like the man she is prosecuting: Donald Trump. Like Trump, she defied calls of the court to confine her answers and respond to the questions. She attacked her critics, including the media, in diatribes that virtually ignored the questions. Unlike Trump, however, she got away with it.
Willis was allowed to extemporize at length on the “collusion” of the lawyers plotting against her and how “these people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020.”
Judge Scott McAfee, who had been doing a fine job controlling the courtroom, seemed to surrender control to Willis as she rambled on about women dating, the value of hoarding cash, and negotiating with foreign cab drivers.
She is also accused of out-of-court statements that undermined the case. Sound familiar?
In Trump’s case, judges repeatedly hit him with contempt sanctions, struck his testimony, and barred his discussion of certain defenses. He was fined for his out-of-court statements.
With Willis, McAfee politely nudged her to confine her answers and cautioned her that the court might have to intervene. He never did. Willis seemed to control the tenor and testimony until a clearly exhausted McAfee called it a day.
Over at CNN, Jeff Toobin praised her performance:
“I think she was a good witness. I mean, I think if for the purposes that she was on the stand for actually, I thought demolished the case against her. You know, some people will simply not believe that some people don’t have that much cash around, but some people do. And other than that, I think she’s a good witness.”
Outside the court, some on the left celebrated her confrontational, combative style. Where Trump was unhinged, Willis was unbowed. Where Trump’s rage was threatening, Willis’s rage was righteous.
That is not the only time that Trump came to mind after Wade and Willis took the stand.
In the Georgia prosecution, Willis is relying a great deal on a recorded conversation of Trump with Georgia election officials as they discussed what Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger described as a settlement discussion of Trump’s election fraud claims. Trump wanted a recount and the officials insisted that it was not likely to produce enough votes to make a difference. Trump insisted that “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state.”
Critics insist that Trump was clearly pushing the officials to simply invent the votes when he pushed them to “find” the votes. Trump maintains that he was saying that that was not many votes to find statewide to potentially change the outcome.
In the end, critics dismiss any other meaning of “find” as playing semantics.
Yet, both Wade and Willis had their own struggles over key words in the hearing on Thursday.
Wade was confronted by seemingly false sworn statements made to interrogatories related to his divorce case. For example, he was asked about his denial of “a sexual relationship during the time or his marriage and separation” as of May 30, 2023. That would seem clear. It is also now confirmed that he had a sexual relationship with Willis in 2022 at a minimum.
Wade, however, insisted that he read the question as being confined to sexual relations “in the course of my marriage.” The fact that the question clearly asked about any sexual relationship up to May 30, 2023 did not matter to the lead prosecutor in the Georgia election case.
Willis then offered her own semantic spins. She was asked about local rules barring paying or employing family or intimate friends. Willis declared that she viewed Wade not as an employee but a contractor or “agent.”
Willis added another semantic twist when confronted by another rule barring the receipt of the aggregate of more than $100 from an employee or contractor. Willis just said that, while she may have accepted more than $100 from Wade, it balanced out in the end because she bought things for him. Both, however, insisted that they dealt largely in cash with no receipts or records.
Those interpretations of key words are considered by Wade and Willis to be fair game. However, an alternative meaning of what was meant by the word “find” is clearly not only unreasonable but a basis for prosecution.
None of this is likely to end the Georgia case. Even if Wade and Willis were disqualified, it is likely that the court would allow the case to move forward under their subordinates. Moreover, Willis may have succeeded in giving McAfee enough to express condemnation with her conduct but to reject her disqualification.
If so, the court would ignore that fact that both Wade and Willis are accused of making false statements to courts not just in their testimony this week but prior filings. They would be allowed to prosecute defendants in the Georgia case charged with making such false statements in court filings.
In the end, Willis knew her audience. She knew that the judge would likely allow her to control her own testimony. She knew that many in the public would view her combative testimony as justified, even inspiring. The fact is that she is not Trump and, for many, that is enough.
The judge did not control the courtroom; I assumed that he was giving Fani rope to hang herself but perhaps he’s weak. We’ll see. I thought that she was very unprofessional and seemed to have many conflicts of interest. I was surprised that there was no mention of Fani’s firing her former friend/ employee who complained about misuse of funds. I also would have been interested in knowing more about the coordination with the White House; I guess that would have to be explored more with Wade since Fani denied any involvement with that.
One item that is missing from all of the discussion is how Willis’ lead prosecutor, Wade, visited the WH twice. Now why would a local DA’s office consult with the attorneys for Biden? Of course Bragg in NY went to the WH too. How about Letitia James?
This is the president of the United States eliminating his opponent…and Dems/liberals/media are all fine with it.
Or….Wade was checking if anyone at the White House is a witness in the case, which is what he was doing. That is valid.
Sammy, how would a Biden person be a witness to what Trump was doing in the WH? PAid shill!
HullBobby,
Leave it to Sammy to make himself look dumber than he already has.
Upstate, we owe our thanks to Sammy for making everyone else look brilliant.
Because the White House has many permanent non-political staff. Also it is possible that a Biden person could be a witness, especially if they were part of the GA campaign.
Do you ever think before you comment?
Seriously. Think about what you just said.
What percentage (%) of this is Election Year Grand-Standing? (ret.)
Amazing how many ‘angels’ the Democratic Party’s Show Producers can find to keep the ‘Get Trump’ series on going.
COURTTV.com ~ February 15, 2024 [3 Related Stories links on page – Scroll Down]
https://www.courttv.com/news/fani-willis-fights-push-to-remove-her-from-trumps-georgia-case/
Based on yesterday’s hearing and the obvious unethical practicves of the Fulton County Diustrict Attorney, this case should be tossed, either by the pesiding judge or resulting from a federal filing of 1983 claims. 42 U.S.C. §1983 is the primary remedial statute for asserting federal civil rights claims against local public entities, officers and employees. It is the codification of the Civil Rights Act of 1871, otherwise known as the “Klu Klux Klan Act.” Its purpose was to provide a federal remedy in federal court because the state governments and courts, “by reason of prejudice, passion, neglect, intolerance or otherwise” were unwilling to enforce the due process rights of blacks guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. (Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167 (1961)) Trump and his codefendants should puisue 1983 claims against Fulton County, GA, and its District Attorney for wrongful prosecution. While Willis and company may claim immunity from 1983, In Burns v. Reed, No., 500 U.S. 478 (1991), the US Supreme Court held that a state prosecuting attorney’s is not absolute if and when the prosecutor performs investigative functions or provides legal advice to police. The atypical nature of a RICO case for the alleged violations in this case raises serious doubt about the constitutionality of Willis’s actions. How ironic would it be for Trump and company to use the KKK Act in Georgia to get this matter dismissed.
What happened with the prosecutor has nothing to do with the validity of the case against Trump.
Yesterday’s hearing confirmed that Wade and Willis profited personally from bringing what many legal scholars believe is either not a RICO case to begin with or a misinterpretation of the state RICO statute. Once you establish a motive for the crime, the facts often speak for themselves. Yesterday’s testimony about money and how it was earned, spent, spilt and used by the DA and her lover was just not believable by reasonable people. This case is nothing but a hi-tech version of the old Georgia speed trap!
JJC,
Once again, thank you for your legal analysis.
sammy,
your on the wrong thread. nobody is talking about tossing the case about Trump. We are talking about A corrupt prosecutor, and removing her and her corruption from the Case. The case goes forward at the discretion of Fulton county
“What happened with the prosecutor has nothing to do with the validity of the case against Trump.”
The hell it doesn’t.
Corrupt people do corrupt things. You know — that whole wicked motivation thing.
Good points. It appears that there is strong evidence of Willis and Wade using their law licenses and offices as corrupt enterprises.
“. . . another rule barring the receipt of the aggregate of more than $100 . . .”
Let me get this straight:
You are the DA in Fulton County. You know (or should know) the law and legal ethics about accepting gifts. You go on lavish, expensive vacations with your lover/prosecutor, who your office has paid some $800,000. He pays the expenses for those vacations with his corporate card. You, allegedly, use cash to repay him for your portion.
And you do *not* keep receipts, records, anything — to prove that you did in fact repay him, and that you did in fact *not* violate the law on accepting gifts?!
There are those who swallow that patent absurdity?
At minimum, she’s guilty of rank, professional malfeasance.
…or racketeering.
Sam,
Those who swallow that patent absurdity, also willfully ignore all the evidence of the BCF.
And you do *not* keep receipts, records, anything — to prove that you did in fact repay him,
To be fair, a real lawyer would intuitively
documentunderstand the danger and create weak yet plausible lies to cover up illegal actions/repayments.The theory of evolution holds no merit, in more ways than one. We are devolving into an idiocracy. I recently watched Mike Judge’s movie of the same name. He was spot on.
I taught witnesses to confine their answers to precisely answering each question and ONLY the question. I’d explain that if asked, “Do you know what time it is?” The answer is one word, “YES” or “NO.” Don’t explain how to build a clock.
Ms. Willis should have called me before she took the witness stand . . .
Several of us students argued with our professor over some ideas we proposed… his rebuttal was always the same answer, “If you have a really great idea you should be able to reduce to writing the entire idea so that it fit the four corners of the nearest match book cover.
Ken, the difference is that you defend regular people, Fani Willis is a DEMOCRAT and therefore she can “run the court”, “dominate the proceedings” and lie shamelessly.
Ken I was instructed the same.
On word, preferable the smallest possible. If they ask if yesterday was Thursday, you ask to see a calendar. They also said NEVER use numbers unless forced. And then ask to consult the records you have available.
I thought that most of the lawyers lacked a focus on what they were seeking.
Willis’ diatribe would make clear to me as a judge she is not ethical suited to try this case.
If I tried to explain to govt officials that I used constant cash transations of monies the law required documented tracking, they would just lock me up.
As to Wade? His response to the legal question he responded to in writing, interlocutory question? What Attourney that has passed the bar, does not know Credit Card statements are receipts? I would be prosecuting for lying if I lied on Interlocutory questions
None of this has anything to do with Trump or his co-conspirators or the reason he is being prosecuted.
Whenever anyone tries to hold Trump accountable for anything, there is an effort to investigate the investigators and get distracted on that. How often did we hear about the FBI lovers having an affair after they tried to hold Trump accountable. Again, it had nothing to do with Trump. Every Judge that rules against Trump – and sometimes their staff – has their life scrutinized and dragged on MAGA media.
If Judge McAfee ends up ruling against Trump or does not provide him complete deference, he will be investigated too and we will hear all kind of offenses he engaged in.
Bubba has no issue with two FBI AGENTS, THAT AARE LOVERS, discussing how they will stop Trump from becoming president and one of the AGENTS actually running the attack against him. Nope, Bubba only hates that the defense will look into the bias and corruption of those going after Trump.
Your name may be Bubba but you are just another little ANTIFA goon that sips lattes and hates his parents.
So only one side gets to wage lawfare?
She admitted under oath to taking thousands or tens of thousands of dollars from her campaign funds and hiding it in her house for personal use. Did she pay state or federal taxes on this windfall? This seems like fertile ground for investigation.
Wait till you hear how Trump’s campaign funds are used to pay his and his cronies’s lawyers. Have you considered the tax consequences of that?
—————-Here the difference is if you declared the expense, who you paid and for what.
Legal and accounting offsets IS ASEPT TOTAL DISBURSEMENTS – But Georgia State law is very specific to expenses of more than $100 – and (including loans) of $1,000 or more. A termination statement must be submitted with a final Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report that shows a zero balance.
*What campaign funds do candidates have to report in federal elections? The FECA requires candidates for president, Senate, and the House of Representatives to report:
– The names of the individuals and political organizations contributing to their campaigns and the amounts
– How the candidates spend the money they receive and the amounts
The names of the individuals and political organizations contributing to their campaigns and the amounts
How the candidates spend the money they receive and the amounts
**What campaign funds do candidates have to report in local judges elections? Georgia campaign finance requirements govern the following:
how much money candidates may receive from individuals and organizations,
how much and how often they must report those contributions, and
how much individuals, organizations and political parties may contribute to campaigns.
***Campaign Contribution Disclosure Statement (Form CCDR)
This form reports all expenditures and contributions (including any money or resources a candidate gives to his or her own campaign). All contributions and expenditures greater than $100 must be itemized, as well as any aggregate totals of all contributions and expenditures of $100 or less.
If a candidate has no opposition in a primary or general election and receives less than $100 in contributions, only the first and last reports need to be filed.
This form must be filed to disclose contributions (including loans) of $1,000 or more that are accepted between the most recent report and the date of any election in which the candidate is running.
These contributions must be reported, within two business days of receiving the contribution. These contributions must be included on the next regularly scheduled report, as well.
A termination statement must be submitted with a final Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report that shows a zero balance. This must be filed within 10 days of the dissolution of a campaign or else the committee must appoint someone who will maintain campaign records until the balance does reach zero.
********State Business Transactions Disclosure Reports (Any year)
– Georgia law requires that all Institute employees disclose business transactions — conducted by themselves or family members — with the state or any state agency. (Wade)
Definition of Business Transactions
Business transactions mean the sale or leasing of any personal property, real property, or services on behalf of oneself or a third party as an agency, broker, dealer, or representative. It also applies to the purchase of surplus real or personal property on behalf of oneself or on behalf of any third party as an agency, broker, dealer, or representative.
Campaign finance requirements in Georgia https://ballotpedia.org/Campaign_finance_requirements_in_Georgia
State Business Transactions Disclosure Reports https://news.gatech.edu/news/2024/01/05/state-business-transactions-disclosure-reports-due-jan-31
Squirrel!
Republican pearl-clutching is endless.
So the Judge is going to ignore the facts.
She accepted gifts of over $10,000 from her boy friend, hired him to do a job he has Zero experience to recommend him for the job, paid him over $1,000,000
The judge is going to allow lying on interlocutors.? When it asks for any record, he said none. But all was paid for by his business .
Willis did not pay Wade back unless she produces documents.
These are both attorneys, they know the law. The knowingly set out the hide their actions that clearly violate the ethic rules controlling lawyers That is obstruction of justice
There was another side to be seen from Fani Willis as she “suited up and showed up to court” though I disagreed with her actions and interpretations I found empathy toward her as she describes her struggles as a black woman in a white man’s world were authentic portrayals.. not diatribe. Recall an old adage: The road to hell is often paved with good intentions.
Ah yes, the poor struggles of the put upon black woman…who happens to be the DA of Fulton County!!!!
Her dad was a founder of the Black Panthers. She is a hard core racist, as she was raised to be. I did not realize until her dramatics yesterday that she is pretty stupid as well. The jury pool in Fulton is also problematic for a white defendant. Especially one as demonized as DJT.
You are utterly gullible. Her manipulation tactics are so damn predictable as to how they rely upon identitarian pry bars. Let us hope you hold no position of authority or judgement responsibilities.
@ Ano-nei-muss: RE :”There was another side to be seen..” One looks forward to the time when this society and culture will have ceased to offer up the excuse made memorable by Stephen Sondheim in his ‘book’ for ‘West Side Story’……….’I’m depraved on account of I’m deprived’ as an apologia for moral and ethical turpitude.
Maybe she shouldn’t have worn her dress backwards. Or is that part of her struggle?
s I found empathy toward her as she describes her struggles as a black woman in a white man’s world were authentic portrayals..
She accepted gifts from a person she Hired.
Are you claiming, as a black woman she is allowed to obliterate ethical rules,? or as a black woman, she lacks the intellectual agency to comprehend her actions are wrong.?
I found empathy toward her as she describes her struggles as a black woman in a white man’s world were authentic portrayals.
Atlanta is 49% Black and 41% white. Atlanta is a Black persons world, with Afirmative Action and DEI thrown in as a kicker. The Only reason she has the job is because of the color of her skin and fact her pants dont have pockets
I’ve worked with dozens of prosecutors, private attorneys, Detectives and Federal Agents whose skillful questions and examination techniques could crack a walnut . . . what we saw yesterday was amateur hour.
Willis: “these people are on trial” because D’s are drunk on power, have no moral compass, and use any Stalinist tactic necessary to destroy the opposition.
Now her statement’s honest.
A county district attorney with all the elegance and class of a fire hydrant, raised to office by the electorate of Fulton County. Corruption has no complexion, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious persuasion, socioeconomic status, or political preference,. It only requires opportunity, and the likes of Willis, Bragg, and others of their ilk have been given that by a braindead citizenry.
“Willis looked strikingly like the man she is prosecuting: Donald Trump.” (JT)
That is a gratuitous swipe.
And a deflection from a massive injustice: She is the “prosecutor” using the law to destroy the leading political opponent. He is the victim.
The guy who committed the crime is the victim just because he is a political figure?
“The guy who committed the crime . . .”
You gotta love the Left: Guilty first. Trial later. Maybe.
Just more evidence of a 2 tiered system. They have been out to get Trump from day 1 in 2015 with his announcement. When he actually won, they had pre-planned methods to start destroying him. I didn’t vote for him in 2016, but when I witnessed daily how they persecuted him with everything he said or did, when he was actually very productive, even with all odds against him, I could see the injustice. How anyone can support this all out effort to destroy him, without seeing it is political abuse, is beyond any justification. He is never treated in a fair way, and would never be allowed to speak as this individual spoke.
Yes, people go after their political opponents. The attacks on Hillary started 20 years before she ran for president. What is different now is that Trump is the focus of criminal investigations and charges….because he is a criminal. The facts of what Trump did are all undisputed.
Willis strolled into that courtroom and proceeded to treat everyone present as her underlings. Including the Judge. And he allowed it. I was embarrassed for the judge and the entire justice system. Her own attorneys had been working to have her subpoena quashed and she just barged in and undid all their efforts. It was obvious she was lying just as Wade had lied in his testimony. I thought it strange that she just volunteered that she withdrew cash from her campaign account and keep that money at home. That information should be easy to confirm.
I disagree that the judge will let her get away with it in the end though. After admonishing her to just stick to answering the questions he finally gave up and just let her ramble on. She insisted on the rope to hang herself. I think he will remove her and the Fulton County DA’s office from the Trump et al cases. The judge received his J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law. He is not a John Marshall Law school graduate and the type that would see no problems with her actions. He was actually required to take Professionalism and Ethics and that law school actually holds their students to high standards.
Then Fani’s problems will have just started. Both Fulton county and the state of Georgia are already investigating her actions, as is a Congressional Committee. Fani Wills is finished in regards to the case against Trump in Georgia. I have serious doubts the case will continue even if attempts are made to transfer it to another county’s DA office.
Wish I had your confidence in this judge.
I don’t think the case will proceed under Willis subordinates. The word “perceived” bias extends to everybody in the Fulton County’s District Attorneys office because ALL either worked on the Trump case or knew what was happening with the case. Willis’ testimony demonstrates a CLEAR “Conflict of Interest” and a Public perception of Bias by Willis. Her testimony yesterday was Dumpster-Fire and that’s an understatement.
100% Correct.
Americans dont believe the DNC/Deep State and their enablers. They are irrelevant except to their Narcissistic reflection
The Great Traffic Plunge continues. Unique visitors to leading news sites, Jan. 2024 (vs. Jan. ‘23), per ComScore:
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https://twitter.com/farhip/status/1758370521882808749
I think the judge did not act appropriately and firmly against Willis’ conduct because he feared being called a racist misogynist.
Reminds me of define is
Does Georgia not have a canon that states lawyers should avoid the appearance of impropriety? Has anyone filed a complaint with the state bar?
My best guess is that this will turn out to be a big nothing for a variety of reasons.