Fani Willis 'Botched' Donald Trump's Case: Ex-Prosecutor

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis looks on during a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse on March 1, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia. Willis is facing criticisms over her handling of the case after a state appeals court agreed to reconsider efforts to disqualify her from the prosecution.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis “botched” the election interference case against former President Donald Trump that was expected to go to trial before this year’s presidential election, former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Newsweek.

Since Willis indicted Trump and 18 co-conspirators in a sweeping racketeering case in August, the Democratic district attorney has been widely attacked by Republicans. Things came to a head earlier this year when one of the co-defendants revealed in a court filing that Willis was in a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, one of her special prosecutors.

Arguing that their relationship presented a conflict of interest, the defendants in the case were granted a hearing on their efforts to disqualify Willis, but the motion was denied by Judge Scott McAfee. Nonetheless, Trump and his allies moved to appeal McAfee’s ruling, and on Wednesday, the Georgia Court of Appeals agreed to reconsider the disqualification decision—a development that will likely present obstacles for the case to go to trial before November.

“The Georgia trial will not happen before the November election,” Rahmani said. “It was already a stretch when Willis was the last to file and charged 19 co-defendants. But when she botched the case by hiring her boyfriend and creating an unnecessary sideshow, it became a near impossibility.”

“Between briefs, oral arguments, a decision, and potential appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court, there is no way the Fulton County case will be ready for trial before November,” Rahmani said.

Legal analyst and Georgia State University law professor Anthony Michael Kreis agreed that Willis “messed up badly.”

“There will be no trial in Georgia until 2025 at the earliest. The entire process has been derailed considerably for the time being,” Kreis told Newsweek.

The relationship between Willis and Wade was publicized after an attorney for Trump co-defendant Michael Roman argued that the district attorney should be disqualified in a January 8 filing.

Less than two weeks after the filing, Willis gave a speech defending Wade as a “great friend” and a “legal superstar,” while avoiding addressing the allegations that the two were in a romantic relationship. She also accused critics of targeting Wade, who is Black, and not the other two special prosecutors on the case, who are white.

It wasn’t until February that the couple acknowledged their “personal” relationship, which they argue isn’t grounds for disqualification.

Former federal prosecutor and elected state attorney Michael McAuliffe told Newsweek that the Georgia appeal will likely take months before a decision is reached.

“Trump’s defense strategy of grinding the clock down with trial filings and appeals is working in that the Georgia case has slowed to a crawl, the federal documents case in South Florida is in a state of suspended animation, and the federal January 6th case in DC is waiting on the Supreme Court to rule as to the immunity issue,” McAuliffe said.

And if Trump is successful in getting WIllis removed, “the case would be further delayed with a reassignment.

“The criminal justice system is being taxed by a well-funded, extremely aggressive defendant who will make any and all moves to push off trials in multiple jurisdictions,” McAuliffe said, nothing there is still one case that has gone to trial.

Speaking of the Manhattan hush-money case, he said, “a guilty verdict of a felony in any case might force a reassessment of [Trump’s] approach.”

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