Fani Willis Gets Double Tap Of Bad News From Judge McAfee, Fulton

Fani Willis Gets Double Tap Of Bad News From Judge McAfee, Fulton

A court date of Friday, March 1, has been set in which Judge McAfee of Fulton County will hear arguments on whether Fulton County DA Fani Willis and her staff should be disqualified from prosecuting the RICO case against former President Donald Trump and 18 members of his 2020 campaign and legal teams.

The basis of the claim that she should be disqualified is her allegedly improper romantic relationship with Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade, one of three special prosecutors she hired for the case. The Fulton County Ethics board will also hear two complaints against Willis stemming from that relationship.

Those arguing for DA Willis’ removal argue that she has a financial stake in the case against Trump and his co-defendants through wade, as Wade paid tens of thousands of dollars on vacations that DA Willis took with him, and he was able to afford those vacations at least in part because of earnings from the RICO case appointment. Michael Roman was the first to make that allegation in early January of 2024, and it opened the floodgates of allegations about Willis’ relationship with Wade.

Reporting on the March 1 hearing was Lawfare’s Anna Bower, who posted about the hearing on X. Bower said, “Judge Scott McAfee has set a date to hear argument on the motion to disqualify Fani Willis from prosecuting the RICO case against Trump and others. Hearing set for March 1 at 1 p.m. As with most Fulton County proceedings, the hearing will be live-streamed.”

Continuing, Bower noted the difference between the recent trainwreck (for Willis and Wade) hearing and the March 1 hearing, posting, “The proceeding held on Feb. 15-16 was a evidentiary hearing. It was an opportunity for the defense and the state to call witnesses and establish certain facts. At the March 1 hearing, counsel will apply the facts in evidence to the law as they argue for or against the motion.”

In the March 1 hearing, therefore, the court will decide if DA Willis should be disqualified. If she is, that will at the very least be a problem for the RICO case against Trump, and could possibly either lead to a substantial delay in the case or bring an end to the case against Trump and his 18 co-defendants.

But Judge McAfee’s hearing date decision wasn’t the only bad news Willis got. She will also have to defend herself in front of the Fulton County Ethics Board over two complaints stemming from her conduct in the RICO case. The AJC, however, reported that the ethics complaints are unlikely to have a substantial effect on the Trump case. It reported:

The complaints are unlikely to have much impact on the prosecution of former President Donald Trump and the 14 other defendants in the case. There is disagreement about whether the county ethics code even applies to Willis, who is a state constitutional officer. And even if she were found to have violated the county code, the penalty is only an administrative sanction of up to $1,000 and a public reprimand.