Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee found District Attorney Fani Willis potentially lied, cast “racial aspersions” on a defendant, and had a “tremendous lapse in judgement,” but could nonetheless continue her crusade targeting a former president — so long as special prosecutor Nathan Wade withdraws from the case.
McAfee issued a decision Friday saying the defendants “failed to meet their burden of proving that the District Attorney acquired an actual conflict of interest in this case.”
Former President Donald Trump, along with Michael Roman and other co-defendants, argued that Willis had disqualified herself from prosecuting them on racketeering “RICO” charges ostensibly relating to the 2020 election. One of the reasons Roman, who filed the original motion to dismiss, gave for Willis’ disqualification was that she had allegedly financially benefited after she hired her lover Nathan Wade as special prosecutor on the case. Wade allegedly took Willis on vacations using the money he earned while on the case.
Wade’s law firm was paid more than $650,000 for his involvement over a two year span, far more than the other special prosecutors on the case. The law firms of Anna Cross and John Floyd were each paid less than $100,000, according to 11 Alive.
The money, defendants alleged, was used to treat Willis to lavish vacations to the Bahamas, Aruba, Belize, and Napa Valley, which Willis claims she repaid in cash.
McAfee ruled that Willis’ “reimbursement practice” — allegedly carrying cold, hard cash on hand at all times in the thousands —
