Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee is expected to decide in the coming days whether District Attorney Fani Willis can continue prosecuting the case against former President Donald Trump that charges him with leading a conspiracy to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election.
McAfee’s decision will come after lawyers for Trump and his 14 co-defendants make closing arguments following two days of contentious court hearings last week over a motion to remove the Fulton D.A. following accusations of prosecutorial misconduct by enriching herself during a romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she hired for the case in November 2021.
Willis has strongly denied allegations that she or Wade misappropriated taxpayer funds for personal gain because of their relationship outside of the workplace. The motion to disqualify her is centered on that issue, as opposed to the recently disclosed nature of the romantic relationship between Willis and Wade.
Over the course of Thursday and Friday, state and defense witnesses ranged from Willis and Wade to Willis’ father, former Gov. Roy Barnes, the D.A.’s former friend and ex-employee and Wade’s former law partner and divorce attorney.
McAfee is expected to make a final decision on whether to proceed with the case under the supervision of Willis’ office after the closing arguments in the hearing take place in about a week.
If the judge removes Willis and the rest of the Fulton D.A. staff from the case, then it would leave it up to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia to find another district attorney ready to take on the case for it to continue.
The outcome of the landmark case could factor into Willis’ campaigning this year for a second term as district attorney that will place her under a much brighter spotlight than when she won against Paul Howard in 2020.
According to Charles Bullock, a professor of political science at the University of Georgia,…
Read the full article here
