Fani Willis and Nathan Wade no longer have to testify following 'last minute' agreement



Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and one of her top prosecutors, Nathan Wade, will no longer have to testify in a hearing to answer questions about a potential inappropriate relationship.

An attorney for Mike Roman — one of former President Donald Trump's co-defendants in the Fulton County RICO case — previously accused Willis and Wade of carrying on a secret relationship, arguing that it constituted a conflict of interest. Reuters also reported that Wade paid for two non-work flights for he and Willis to both San Francisco and Aruba, after bank records emerged from the divorce proceedings.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Wade reached a "last minute settlement agreement" with his estranged wife, Joycelyn Mayfield Wade, which struck Wednesday's hearing from the calendar. And because the agreement will not be filed before the court, the terms may never become public.

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?

Even though Wade's divorce has been settled, Willis is still expected to respond to the allegations from Roman's attorney by Friday, February 2. The controversy over Willis and Wade's relationship has prompted Norman Eisen, who is a Willis ally, to call on the district attorney to remove Wade from the case. Eisen acknowledged that a relationship between coworkers wouldn't constitute a conflict of interest and that there's no specific legal reason to dismiss Wade other than to prevent Trump's legal team from using his presence to distract from the facts of the case.

"There is an overwhelming amount of evidence justifying the decision to prosecute Mr. Trump and his co-conspirators," Eisen said. "The evidence is strong. The case is powerful. It’s very likely to lead to conviction. And we mustn't lose time on the calendar given the paramount public interest in bringing that strong case to a speedy conclusion."

Willis has asked for an August trial date to try the remaining defendants who haven't entered guilty pleas. That date may end up getting moved up earlier in the year, as both of Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith's federal trials will likely be delayed due to appeals before the Supreme Court of the United States and the DC Circuit Court of Appeals pertaining to Trump's disqualification from the Colorado ballot, and the question of absolute presidential immunity, respectively.

Judge Scott McAfee scheduled a hearing for February 15 to hear arguments from both Roman's attorney and Willis. That hearing will be publicly televised.

READ MORE: Legal expert explains the one thing Fani Willis has to do to save her Trump investigation

The Washington Post's full report is available here (subscription required).



from Alternet.org https://ift.tt/g9T26Wd
via sinceretalk

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PA GOP Senate candidate who says he 'started with nothing' actually grew up in a mansion

Image
David McCormick, who is Pennsylvania's presumptive Republican U.S. Senate nominee, has often suggested he grew up poor in a rural community. But a new report finds that his upbringing was far more affluent than he's suggested. The New York Times reported Friday that McCormick — a former hedge fund executive who lived in Connecticut as recently as 2022 — has been cagey with voters about his childhood. McCormick has tweeted that he was "raised in Bloomsburg working on his family's farm," said on a 2022 podcast that he " started with nothing " and told CBS News that same year that he " didn't have anything " growing up as the son of two schoolteachers. But according to the Times , McCormick's father, Dr. James H. McCormick , was appointed president of what is now Bloomsburg University by Gov. Milton Schapp (D) in 1973. He moved his family into Buckalew Place — the official mansion for presidents of the school that currently spans 5...
Read more

How misinformation could shape the Israel-Hamas war

Image
I wanted to interview Nicholas Grossman regarding the role of misinformation in the war between Israel and Hamas. In particular, I hoped to ask the professor of international relations at the University of Illinois, and senior editor of Arc Digital , about misinformation that arose from American reporting on an explosion at a hospital in Gaza. You know what? I ended up repeating a bit of misinformation! I asked him to lay out the facts about a blast that “killed hundreds, including kids,” and he said nuh-uh (not his words). In fact, Professor Grossman said, “there never were hundreds killed by an explosion at that hospital. Media reported that the hospital was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike killing 500, but that was based on something a Hamas-controlled agency said and was never supported by evidence.” Professor Grossman went on to say “what apparently did happen is something hit a nearby parking lot and caused a smaller explosion, most likely a rocket fired from Gaza towards I...
Read more

Trump was hit by glass fragments — not a bullet: report

Image
Law enforcement officials have claimed to two different sources that former President Donald Trump was not grazed by a bullet but rather by glass shards. The officials in question told both Newsmax's Alex Salvi and Axios' Juliegrace Brufke that Trump was hit by glass shards that may have erupted from the shattering of a teleprompter that was hit by gunfire. Earlier on Saturday, law enforcement sources confirmed that the person suspected of firing a weapon at a Pennsylvania Trump rally had been killed, as had at least one person in the crowd. Videos showed Trump grabbing his neck after apparent gunshots had been fired before Secret Service agents pulled him to the ground. They then took him away in an armored vehicle to a hospital where he was treated for injuries. The identity of the shooting suspect has not yet been released. from Alternet.org https://ift.tt/ILgqr53 via sinceretalk
Read more