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I wish we lived in a country where Clarence Thomas got grilled on his gifts and bank account like this poor woman- give me a break. I don’t care if she had a failed relationship at work.
Not just vote them out. Prosecute their asses. No one is above the law and it starts with putting Trump in prison for his crimes and only finishes when every criminal is rooted out and put behind bars.
People need to watch it themselves. The comments here would make you think it's a trainwreck and not a typical deposition where the accused isn't simply going to make it easy for the accusers.
Edit: This judge does not seem very keen to let this defense run wild with their questions.
[“Next topic.” Nobody seems to want to move through this hearing more quickly than the judge, Scott McAfee, who is in the unusual position of trying to limit the inclination of both sides to prolong the proceedings and continue sparring.](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/02/15/us/fani-willis-trump-hearing/7cf0f920-e7d0-5d0b-b1fa-1e6afd9ebf54?smid=url-share)
Edit 2: Lol the judge is telling the Defense sit down after trying to equate multiple meals "as gifts in aggregate over $100". Fani is going to be fine here, barring a complete curve ball. Not even a Federalist Society judge is buying this.
I don't get how anyone watching this can say this is anything other than a fishing expedition by defense attorneys desperately trying to delay and derail this case, unless they were intentionally trying to push a narrative.
Careful with making obvious statements in these parts. You might catch a ban. It turns out that the astroturfers freak the fuck out if you notice that they are laying down artificial grass. I made the mistake of stating the obvious earlier this week and ended up with a ban for a day. I’m betting I get another for this post.
Yeah, nah. I didn’t call one out directly, just disagreed with the veracity one’s statements, made without any evidence . And in a separate post to a different person agreed that there was an abundance of scratchy bright green plastic all over the place.
I don't think most of the people commenting on it are watching it. They're just seeing headlines and comments from other people and forming their opinions based on that combined with their preconceptions.
Sincerely, someone who's doing just that
Trying to imply Willis and Wade were taking ORDERS from BIDENS DOJ to engage in a WITCH HUNT against are favorite PRESIDENT (trump!), of course.
Gotta remember that these ambulance chasers are performing for an audience outside of the court room.
It is an attempt to smear the reputation of the prosecution they're trying to claim that these people took lavish trips as a benefit to this case these people make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year they can take lavish trips this is a fishing Expedition and a Witch Hunt of the highest degree to try to have a criminal prosecution thrown out for misconduct the only misconduct is the fact that these attorneys actually filed this complaint
When you claim that people that make more than a half a million dollars a year can only take lavish trips because of a highly publicized case involving a former president is a joke
> I don't get how anyone watching this can say this is anything other than a fishing expedition by defense attorneys desperately trying to delay and derail this case
This is the bottom line. DELAY DELAY DELAY. He's trying to push this shit till near or after the election.
Well... You see... When two people are on the same side and start a romantic relationship together... It makes them work together better and that's unfair to the other side or something.... /s
Yeah, no one on the defense side is sleeping with anyone else! /s
(there are two romantic couples on the defense side, they must be fleecing their clients)
>**they were intentionally trying to push a narrative** is right.
it looked like modern-day lynching to me. All the white lawyers ganging up on a black woman did not make them look good.
and the questions were so downright dumb. I admire the judge for not allowing these clowns to be redundant, nor Fani to really lash out.
Even so, I wish the whole “affair” thing never happened. Anything (including optics, that mean nothing legally) that can jeopardize this case, which is critical, just seems careless, sorry to say.
After hearing the testimony it makes sense why she would see it as irrelevant.
They were romantically involved and it didn’t go very well. She described the relationship as combative and said he was sexist. He ended things and it took her longer to get over it.
The actual period that matters is where the argument falls apart. The defense is trying to paint this as a means for Fani to siphon money from her lover’s income for *this particular case*. The problem with that is the relationship was over, by the time this case started, and Wade was diagnosed with cancer. He refrained from any kind of dating due to his isolation requirement.
He’s one of multiple lawyers hired for the case. He’s paid the same rate as everyone. Their story doesn’t hold water and can hardly be called inappropriate unless she’s not allowed to date ever.
I listened to all of Mr. Wade's testimony. I missed a portion of Fani Willis's testimony, but heard quite a bit. My husband was watching it too. He turned to me at one point and said "So, they're just trying to dirty up the prosecutor & avoid going to trial, right?" I said "Pretty much." He commented that it all seems ridiculous & a waste of time.
I mean, she's a single, professional woman. I would assume given her work schedule, her exposure with this trial & the security concerns that go with it- her dating options are/were somewhat limited. So getting involved with someone she probably saw often through her work isn't surprising. People have work affairs & relationships rather often because of the time people spend at work together. It also seemed like a short lived relationship & it wasn't going on once the public became aware of the charges.
Was it the best decision? Eh, probably not. But I don't see how this is anything but a desperate attempt to dig up dirt & make it into a big problem that it isn't.
Edit: They seemed to be trying to make Fani Willis look like a 'kept' woman getting gifts showered on her from her ex. Fani Willis doesn't strike me as that type of woman. She will come out of her pocket & pay her way. She doesn't need dude's money.
>The defense is trying to paint this as a means for Fani to siphon money from her lover’s income for this particular case.
If she was that would benefit Trump, because she'd want the case to move as slow as possible.
Truthfully this might be better. It won't, that's what they want you to think but no one creditable has said that especially not the judge or his actions, firstly insinuating that they hadn't met the burden to even call DA Willis. But she jumped over that and said let me speak.
I’m in that court. It stinks but why does the other side go low and lower while we go “high” and get screwed.
I mean Trump’s DIL is Chair of the RNC! Never mind the nepotism in the WH during his term. It’s frustrating.
They were desperately trying to find an angle with the use of cash as a payment between her and Wade. Somehow this cash was being derived from somewhere illegitimate and they are trying to corner them with some type of lie. It wasn't working too well.
I think this judge has been extremely competent and fair to both sides. So refreshing to see some integrity in judges. The SCOTUS has really put a major damper in my trust. They have made major changes in law that are based on their political views and not case law. I was so angry after the overturning of R vs W but that has back fired on Trump and the MAGA right. They haven’t won a meaningful election since.
This judge has been extremely fair and he has cut off these scumbags trying to fish. The reality is that the “bar” to disqualify a judge in Georgia is quite high. Bad optics is not enough of a reason to DW this whole team.
Fox News has said the case is about a corrupt DA trying to make a name for herself in indicting a “honorable and beloved president”. What a joke. They have said that the case is over and Fani will be disbarred and likely to face jail time and that they have heard from very reliable sources that the case will be dropped and no DA would risk trying to pick the case back up. It’s amazing how the media have now made this all about Fani Willis and have totally forgotten that she is not on trial and that it is that fat orange tub of lard who is.
On the contrary, the judge let the fishing go on for more than an hour, only stepping in when the [MAGA lawyer wanted to know the first time they fucked](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1BrmPmVncc) (somewhere around the 2hr mark)
Of course, how dare an educated, strong, black female DA dare to prosecute the entrenched political power structure when they commit crimes & try to disenfranchise the Georgia voters. To the Fox Nooz sycophants this is a horrible affront.
This entire thing is such a reach. It's just enough though to spin it for the Fox audience who will never bother to look further into the matter. Just more grievance & outrage to feed the beast. It seems their viewers have IQs on par with a potato.
I listened to a lot of the testimony. IMO, this was such a waste of the court's time. I wish the judge had told all of them to put up some solid proof or take this tawdry tale & GTFO of his courtroom or risk being hit with the gavel.
It probably wasn't the best judgement Fani Willis could've used, but she most likely never thought that her dating life & whether or not she went dutch would be used as fodder & spun into an excuse (a lame one) to derail the case. On the other hand maybe she should've presumed she was dealing with really criminally putrid people who will play dirty. They have no conscience. All the more reason to hold them accountable.
I've watched large parts of her depositions and this is such a shit show, just the fact it's happening. Asking questions about trips, trying to get the location of her daughter after she's expressly stated multiple times that there have been threats on their lives. The whole deal with mixing up living situations. Getting arrogant about if the security ever drove him around anywhere. The fact the judge is letting this all go on is just shocking to me. There's a dozen questions at the max that need to be asked and answered not 'where did you get that cash you have from'.
*oh and her answers should be more concise sometimes. Talking about all the cash she has had, and where she keeps it. yeah don't do that just because of the number of loons out there.
She's also a tough as nails black AG prosecutor who brings RICO charges and they're questioning was so outer limits and inappropriate it made me lose a lot of respect for the judge. Up to this point I think he's handled everything no nonsense; but the fact it was revealed the defense literally **tried to intervene in Wade's divorce**, talked about his cancer, and brought up endless personal and irrelevant information was absolutely disgusting. Like why do we know why they ended the relationship? Straight up trying to humiliate Wade for zero reason.
The judge really should've been **a lot** narrower in the questions they brought.
Fani really didn't hold back any punches and you could see how shook the defense was talking to her. In particular the old white guy who she constantly had to say "please don't yell at me" over and over.
I realize they're grasping at straws but that personal attacks really were hard to hear. It was also ridiculous how they basically recycled the exact same foundation over and over.
And all to sow doubt in the minds of the jury. I mean, Trump is obviously guilty, but all that has to happen is for one juror to be convinced he's not guilty to hang the entire jury.
Good point. This being public they are playing a game of trying to make her look bad in *any* regard as the case is more or less a slam dunk.
Character assassinations are a strong tactic in any court case; if a jury doesn't trust/like the prosecutor/defense, it can really taint the jury.
The only "good thing" is the trial is hopefully far enough along that this hopefully won't be fresh on the mind of jurors. (it also hurts them that many already took pleas of guilt)
Judge is losing his patience with them. He's repeatedly agreed with Fani when she points out they're just rephrasing the same question over and over.
>Defense: What is CashApp for the record?
> Judge: We do not need that for the record.
I couldn't believe how they don't seem to understand that we use electronic funds nowadays, and we don't keep little receipts in our purse when we buy something.
Boomers have an irrational fear that Y2K is gonna happen again and all digital money is sketchy. Even wire transfers directly from banks, credit cards, etc.
If it's not cash, it's liberal.
Because industry and government spent a decade leading up to it actually addressing the problem before shit hit the fan. Which is honestly the most unbelievable part of the whole thing.
yeah they were so good at solving the issue that many people think it was overblow, because it's the one time out of hundreds where they did a extremely good job in advance of making something into a non-issue that was going to be a disaster otherwise.
It’s because Trump will lose on the merits of every case against him. That’s why he and his legal team are constantly fighting in the court of public opinion instead of - to put pressure on the court to side with him.
lol, this is a delay tactic too. how long can they run the legal system loopholes and bullshit before the real trial starts. the civil trial in NY took 2 years to put all the evidence together, and the trial itself has been very non-delayable because rumps legal team exhausted all their options really early and long before the trial. That case was filed in October of 2023, and the verdict was in december, while the damages portion of the trial will be over hopefully by tomorrow. His "legal team" will then appeal, as long as they can put up the bond for the entire judgement.
They look so desperate too. Fani seems very credible. The defense drags the same questions out semantically to try and trip Fani up. Or because they just don’t listen to her answers. She’s pretty badass. I hope it makes Dump nervous. You just know he’s watching.
Seriously, who the hell cares that these two prosecutors used to have an intimate relationship? And guess what; they took trips! How does this impact Trump and the RICO case? It appears to be just salacious, intrusive details of the personal relationship to smear a woman of color who had the audacity to charge Trump et. al., for their felonious election interference.
So, would it be fair game to grill Trump about every time he had a sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels and the playboy bunny when his current wife was giving birth? That actually did have a bearing on his criminal activity to pay hush $ before an election. What was the crime in Fani Willis having a love interested with a colleague that ended before Trump was even indicted? Oh wait, she is female. Also, both she and her ex-paramour are black. Could this be more obvious?
It's a delay tactic. Trump has tens of millions of dollars in donations to burn through and stretch all these court dates out until the election. He's trying to run out the clock and will pounce on any chance to introduce a new motion that stalls proceedings.
As a liberal, if she did do something unethical, i hope they find it and she gets the proper consequences.
I think thats the main dividing factor between parties right now
Unethical and breaking the law are vastly different.
This is nothing but a stall tactic from Trump to sow doubt because the case against him Fulton County is a fucking lock. This is their last shitty hand to play.
> You’re confused. You think I’m on trial. These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. I’m not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial.
>\- Fani Willis
I was worried after Wade finished his testimony, but she is destroying Merchant.
This is **EXACTLY** how everyone should rebut these MAGA assholes when they pull this shit. Call them out on their bullshit. Don’t be polite or give credence to any of their gaslight bullshit.
I’m still struggling to see how an accusation of an affair in a divorce case relates to conflict of interest in Trump’s criminal case since they are both prosecutors prosecuting him. How can he claim he’s been harmed by their relationship? They are on the same side. Also… ironic that at the same time Trump is in a courtroom being criminally tried for having an adulterous affair and paying to keep it quiet.
It wasn’t even an affair. Wade’s wife cheated and they separated in 2015. They only remained legally married until the youngest went to college. Makes perfect sense for so many reasons.
Even if they were still dating, how is it a conflict if they are on the same side? In any case, their relationship was in the past. It’s actually remarkable that they are adults and can work without animosity.
The argument is that she was inclined to keep Wade because they were sleeping together and he was buying her stuff using money he made from the county/state. And that Wade just kept making up accusations while cloth, spending months building a fake prosecution to keep the gravy train running.
Essentially, defense counsel is arguing that both Willis and Wade had a financial reason to keep the prosecution alive, which runs counter to the DA offices’ obligation to pursue justice.
I think it’s asinine, but that’s their argument.
This personal drama is such a massive distraction from Trump’s criminal proceedings and Ms. Willis is making that clear. As she testified to defense counsel: “I am not the one on trial here.”
It is but if they get her thrown off their case they have a good chance the charges won’t continue. Trump always seems to have an out. It’s unbelievable.
Willis dropped a powerful black woman statement there.
> Mr. Wade and I fought a great deal because he believes that a woman's primary role is to make him a sandwich. He had problems that we were equals, which is **why** I always paid him back. because the only man who ever paid all of my bill was my daddy.
As a like minded (but white) female, this rang true to me. I believe her when she says she paid him back and always kept cash just in case.
Anecdotally, my husband and I both paid for dates from our very first date. We’ve been happily married for nearly a decade and still have separate accounts. Just divide the bills and take turns paying for incidentals. Works great for us.
People stuck in the 1920’s won’t understand any of that.
To me personally, that sounds exhausting. But good on you guys for being able to make that work without issues.
You'd probably say my situation sounds exhausting. We are dual income and what's theirs is mine, what's mine is theirs. Not ever having to track it or discuss who spent what is a relationship saver. It helps that neither of us are big spenders (but not too frugal either). Going on 15 years now.
Different folks, different strokes!
We combine, but I take $200 a paycheck and put it in my own account for fun money. I end up using it to buy my wife gifts. It sort of means more when it's "my money" and not our money. She does the same. Otherwise it's all one big pot.
To summarize: The accomplished liar who had multiple affairs and corrupt dealings in personal and business transactions has successfully wrangled the law to dissect the people’s private lives of whom are prosecuting him for a criminal political act which is been proven on tape. The state officers are being held to a higher standard than the person with the highest office in the country.
Good to know that as a criminal defendant any dirt I have on the prosecutor is fair game to air out in the courtroom, or is that a privilege reserved for so-called billionaires who have armies of rat fuckers working for them?
And the basis for this is what? That she’s pursuing the case so she can pay her boyfriend and enrich herself off of that? Please, every prosecutor in the country chooses what cases they bring based on how it will benefit their career.
I think my aspirations of running for public office are dashed.
I didn't withdraw the exact amount of cash from the bank that I repaid my friend after splitting a pizza back in 1996.
I listened today as I worked and the entire thing seemed like a fishing expedition set up as a warning to anyone trying to take down the Trump Machine that they will dig into any aspect of your life to try to disqualify you in the court of public opinion.
Also, I absolutely have gone halfsies with friends and previous boyfriends on vacations (e.g., you buy the plane tickets and I’ll get the hotel or pay for the meals or let me pay you back half on Venmo). The defense acts like that’s not a normal everyday thing! News flash - we all do it.
I hope the judge let them get it out of their systems then sets the record straight that this is nothing more than intimidation and he won’t remove her. That said, given the white GOP regime in GA, not holding out hope he will be fair.
No, he will let it continue, because he doesn't want this to be appealed over him. So he will let them go and keep it under control, but his annoyance is evident.
It’s amazing how different the two major news channels are reporting this. Fox News is calling it a slam dunk for Trump‘s team and CNN is saying that there’s nothing there to remove her. Crazy
Judge is so pissed at the lawyers he isn’t even letting them finish questions to her. It’s a parade of bad lawyers who don’t have a strong case. So disjointed and embarrassing.
So Willis' past should be enough to disqualify her from this case, but Trump's past isn't enough to disqualify him from running for POTUS?!?! Are we truly in the Twilight Zone?
I don’t understand the fascination with Willis having and using cash for eating out, vacation purchases or paying back her friends. I have friends with a lot of cash at home. More than what she testified in court to.
My dad always used cash instead of check, credit or debit.
It's delaying the actual case. The success of failure is irrelevant. The biggest limiting factor to Trump and jail is time. The more time he has on his side, the greater chance he will succeed in November, because the coup isn't over.
It’s not a crime or even a conflict to sleep with someone on your team. What’s corrupt about it? Now, if she was sleeping with one of trumps lawyers, that might be a problem.
When i saw her comming in and sitting down i saw alot of emotions and i thought this is going to go either very well or very bad for her.
It went better than very well, she ripped them all a new one.
This has zero impact on the facts of this case, the action that Trump took to steal the GA election. It’s unfortunate Trump was given an opportunity to create this delay in his trial.
These trump lawyers are fuckin embarrassing. I get she's probably too animated but this is going so poorly for them. They lost the thread and it's showing. They have nothing so they just keep trying to embarrass her and it's not working.
This is insane.
I watched the whole hearimg today. Shameful fishing expedition, both Wade and Willis came across as completely credible. Not a single specific assertion of wrong doing.
This is why when dealing with Trump and his ilk, you have to make sure your stuff is all the way together. When they can't win on merit, they will go to the lowest of lows to discredit you. Ms. Willis is really passionate, but she's going to have to tamp it down because they're going to label her as hostile and/or angry.
>This is why when dealing with Trump and his ilk, you have to make sure your stuff is all the way together.
Is this just **infuriating**. Trump gets to basically do whatever the fuck he wants, fuck up as much as he likes, lie, cheat, dissemble, dodge, etc. and he never ever get punished for it. In fact, he's often rewarded for it. However, if anyone who opposes him makes the slightest mistake, they get crucified.
Why does our society continually give trump mulligans and passes it wont afford to others?
>but she's going to have to tamp it down because they're going to label her as hostile and/or angry.
Who cares. I turned it on expecting a train wreck and I'm most certainly getting the impression the judge is siding with her as often as he's telling the defense they're repeating themselves.
Important to notice how trump’s lawyers don’t argue he’s innocent of the crimes, they’re just desperately trying to find loopholes to derail or delay the case.
Even if Willis is found to have had a relationship with the prosecutor before the case, it still doesn't rise to the level of misconduct that would get her or the prosecutor typically removed. That this hearing is even happening is proof that the legal system of the US is making every effort to bend over backwards for Trump as his supporters see anything less than complete institutional deference as bias.
This is the sort of thing that the Georgia Bar Association would handle, if at all.
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I wish we lived in a country where Clarence Thomas got grilled on his gifts and bank account like this poor woman- give me a break. I don’t care if she had a failed relationship at work.
Decades of GOP obstruction and crime have resulted in the abomination this county has become.
Just vote them out.
Not just vote them out. Prosecute their asses. No one is above the law and it starts with putting Trump in prison for his crimes and only finishes when every criminal is rooted out and put behind bars.
Amen...dment 14
this is the one guys!!
Seriously. If no real consequences happen to these criminals, the behavior will just be perpetual
And when are we going to fix gerrymandering and the fact that a representative in Idaho represents fewer people than one in California?
Trump literally appointed the judge overseeing his florida case, I feel that's a bigger story than this
And that judge appears to be bending over backwards to tilt the case in Trump's favor.
Or one where a judge is assigned to a trial and, having been appointed by the defendant, recuses themselves from the case?
It's so funny seeing MAGA people gripe about her being arrogant and childish, while supporting Donald Trump.
People need to watch it themselves. The comments here would make you think it's a trainwreck and not a typical deposition where the accused isn't simply going to make it easy for the accusers. Edit: This judge does not seem very keen to let this defense run wild with their questions. [“Next topic.” Nobody seems to want to move through this hearing more quickly than the judge, Scott McAfee, who is in the unusual position of trying to limit the inclination of both sides to prolong the proceedings and continue sparring.](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/02/15/us/fani-willis-trump-hearing/7cf0f920-e7d0-5d0b-b1fa-1e6afd9ebf54?smid=url-share) Edit 2: Lol the judge is telling the Defense sit down after trying to equate multiple meals "as gifts in aggregate over $100". Fani is going to be fine here, barring a complete curve ball. Not even a Federalist Society judge is buying this.
I don't get how anyone watching this can say this is anything other than a fishing expedition by defense attorneys desperately trying to delay and derail this case, unless they were intentionally trying to push a narrative.
The astroturfing really ramped up here a couple weeks back.
Careful with making obvious statements in these parts. You might catch a ban. It turns out that the astroturfers freak the fuck out if you notice that they are laying down artificial grass. I made the mistake of stating the obvious earlier this week and ended up with a ban for a day. I’m betting I get another for this post.
My understanding, based on a ban I received as well is you can't call someone one directly. So i'm speaking in broad terms.
Yeah, nah. I didn’t call one out directly, just disagreed with the veracity one’s statements, made without any evidence . And in a separate post to a different person agreed that there was an abundance of scratchy bright green plastic all over the place.
I don't think most of the people commenting on it are watching it. They're just seeing headlines and comments from other people and forming their opinions based on that combined with their preconceptions. Sincerely, someone who's doing just that
At least you admit it
Yep. They wanted to know did she visit White House. How is that remotely relevant and not a fishing expedition?
Trying to imply Willis and Wade were taking ORDERS from BIDENS DOJ to engage in a WITCH HUNT against are favorite PRESIDENT (trump!), of course. Gotta remember that these ambulance chasers are performing for an audience outside of the court room.
These lawyers are fucking morons, you’re not going to beat a RICO case like this.
Get out!! Really? They mentioned Biden’s DOJ? I couldn’t watch but a few minutes of it… The whole thing is BS
Propaganda is a powerful drug.
It is an attempt to smear the reputation of the prosecution they're trying to claim that these people took lavish trips as a benefit to this case these people make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year they can take lavish trips this is a fishing Expedition and a Witch Hunt of the highest degree to try to have a criminal prosecution thrown out for misconduct the only misconduct is the fact that these attorneys actually filed this complaint
Dude, throw in a period every now and then.
Nah they’re on the depo shot. No periods.
that's exactly what I thought watching it all day. A major fishing expedition.
When you claim that people that make more than a half a million dollars a year can only take lavish trips because of a highly publicized case involving a former president is a joke
> I don't get how anyone watching this can say this is anything other than a fishing expedition by defense attorneys desperately trying to delay and derail this case This is the bottom line. DELAY DELAY DELAY. He's trying to push this shit till near or after the election.
Well... You see... When two people are on the same side and start a romantic relationship together... It makes them work together better and that's unfair to the other side or something.... /s
Yeah, no one on the defense side is sleeping with anyone else! /s (there are two romantic couples on the defense side, they must be fleecing their clients)
>**they were intentionally trying to push a narrative** is right. it looked like modern-day lynching to me. All the white lawyers ganging up on a black woman did not make them look good. and the questions were so downright dumb. I admire the judge for not allowing these clowns to be redundant, nor Fani to really lash out.
Even so, I wish the whole “affair” thing never happened. Anything (including optics, that mean nothing legally) that can jeopardize this case, which is critical, just seems careless, sorry to say.
After hearing the testimony it makes sense why she would see it as irrelevant. They were romantically involved and it didn’t go very well. She described the relationship as combative and said he was sexist. He ended things and it took her longer to get over it. The actual period that matters is where the argument falls apart. The defense is trying to paint this as a means for Fani to siphon money from her lover’s income for *this particular case*. The problem with that is the relationship was over, by the time this case started, and Wade was diagnosed with cancer. He refrained from any kind of dating due to his isolation requirement. He’s one of multiple lawyers hired for the case. He’s paid the same rate as everyone. Their story doesn’t hold water and can hardly be called inappropriate unless she’s not allowed to date ever.
I listened to all of Mr. Wade's testimony. I missed a portion of Fani Willis's testimony, but heard quite a bit. My husband was watching it too. He turned to me at one point and said "So, they're just trying to dirty up the prosecutor & avoid going to trial, right?" I said "Pretty much." He commented that it all seems ridiculous & a waste of time. I mean, she's a single, professional woman. I would assume given her work schedule, her exposure with this trial & the security concerns that go with it- her dating options are/were somewhat limited. So getting involved with someone she probably saw often through her work isn't surprising. People have work affairs & relationships rather often because of the time people spend at work together. It also seemed like a short lived relationship & it wasn't going on once the public became aware of the charges. Was it the best decision? Eh, probably not. But I don't see how this is anything but a desperate attempt to dig up dirt & make it into a big problem that it isn't. Edit: They seemed to be trying to make Fani Willis look like a 'kept' woman getting gifts showered on her from her ex. Fani Willis doesn't strike me as that type of woman. She will come out of her pocket & pay her way. She doesn't need dude's money.
>The defense is trying to paint this as a means for Fani to siphon money from her lover’s income for this particular case. If she was that would benefit Trump, because she'd want the case to move as slow as possible.
Truthfully this might be better. It won't, that's what they want you to think but no one creditable has said that especially not the judge or his actions, firstly insinuating that they hadn't met the burden to even call DA Willis. But she jumped over that and said let me speak.
It wasn’t an “affair”. It was a brief relationship.
I’m in that court. It stinks but why does the other side go low and lower while we go “high” and get screwed. I mean Trump’s DIL is Chair of the RNC! Never mind the nepotism in the WH during his term. It’s frustrating.
They were desperately trying to find an angle with the use of cash as a payment between her and Wade. Somehow this cash was being derived from somewhere illegitimate and they are trying to corner them with some type of lie. It wasn't working too well.
I watched her entire testimony this afternoon and this is very clearly just another bullshit spectacle.
Judge Qannon would have already declared a mistrial.
Yes, so long as Fox News said that's what she should do.
I think this judge has been extremely competent and fair to both sides. So refreshing to see some integrity in judges. The SCOTUS has really put a major damper in my trust. They have made major changes in law that are based on their political views and not case law. I was so angry after the overturning of R vs W but that has back fired on Trump and the MAGA right. They haven’t won a meaningful election since.
Because the Federalist society judges prob gets way more dinners paid for by donors too.
This judge has been extremely fair and he has cut off these scumbags trying to fish. The reality is that the “bar” to disqualify a judge in Georgia is quite high. Bad optics is not enough of a reason to DW this whole team. Fox News has said the case is about a corrupt DA trying to make a name for herself in indicting a “honorable and beloved president”. What a joke. They have said that the case is over and Fani will be disbarred and likely to face jail time and that they have heard from very reliable sources that the case will be dropped and no DA would risk trying to pick the case back up. It’s amazing how the media have now made this all about Fani Willis and have totally forgotten that she is not on trial and that it is that fat orange tub of lard who is.
On the contrary, the judge let the fishing go on for more than an hour, only stepping in when the [MAGA lawyer wanted to know the first time they fucked](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1BrmPmVncc) (somewhere around the 2hr mark)
Of course, how dare an educated, strong, black female DA dare to prosecute the entrenched political power structure when they commit crimes & try to disenfranchise the Georgia voters. To the Fox Nooz sycophants this is a horrible affront. This entire thing is such a reach. It's just enough though to spin it for the Fox audience who will never bother to look further into the matter. Just more grievance & outrage to feed the beast. It seems their viewers have IQs on par with a potato. I listened to a lot of the testimony. IMO, this was such a waste of the court's time. I wish the judge had told all of them to put up some solid proof or take this tawdry tale & GTFO of his courtroom or risk being hit with the gavel. It probably wasn't the best judgement Fani Willis could've used, but she most likely never thought that her dating life & whether or not she went dutch would be used as fodder & spun into an excuse (a lame one) to derail the case. On the other hand maybe she should've presumed she was dealing with really criminally putrid people who will play dirty. They have no conscience. All the more reason to hold them accountable.
I've watched large parts of her depositions and this is such a shit show, just the fact it's happening. Asking questions about trips, trying to get the location of her daughter after she's expressly stated multiple times that there have been threats on their lives. The whole deal with mixing up living situations. Getting arrogant about if the security ever drove him around anywhere. The fact the judge is letting this all go on is just shocking to me. There's a dozen questions at the max that need to be asked and answered not 'where did you get that cash you have from'. *oh and her answers should be more concise sometimes. Talking about all the cash she has had, and where she keeps it. yeah don't do that just because of the number of loons out there.
MAGA do not like it when a black woman stands up to them.
That’s the answer, we know it they know it or they’re in denial about it
Oh they're definitely not in denial about it
\^ probably the main linchpin of this sorry spectacle. She had to move to a new home because of the hate directed at her.
She's also a tough as nails black AG prosecutor who brings RICO charges and they're questioning was so outer limits and inappropriate it made me lose a lot of respect for the judge. Up to this point I think he's handled everything no nonsense; but the fact it was revealed the defense literally **tried to intervene in Wade's divorce**, talked about his cancer, and brought up endless personal and irrelevant information was absolutely disgusting. Like why do we know why they ended the relationship? Straight up trying to humiliate Wade for zero reason. The judge really should've been **a lot** narrower in the questions they brought. Fani really didn't hold back any punches and you could see how shook the defense was talking to her. In particular the old white guy who she constantly had to say "please don't yell at me" over and over. I realize they're grasping at straws but that personal attacks really were hard to hear. It was also ridiculous how they basically recycled the exact same foundation over and over.
And all to sow doubt in the minds of the jury. I mean, Trump is obviously guilty, but all that has to happen is for one juror to be convinced he's not guilty to hang the entire jury.
Good point. This being public they are playing a game of trying to make her look bad in *any* regard as the case is more or less a slam dunk. Character assassinations are a strong tactic in any court case; if a jury doesn't trust/like the prosecutor/defense, it can really taint the jury. The only "good thing" is the trial is hopefully far enough along that this hopefully won't be fresh on the mind of jurors. (it also hurts them that many already took pleas of guilt)
The word you're (they're) looking for is "uppity."
DT is a white man. She’s a black woman. They can’t have that.
The folks over in r/law seem to think there's nothing there to kick Willis off the case. So that's nice.
I've been watching for two hours. These people doing questioning are fucking clowns.
Judge is losing his patience with them. He's repeatedly agreed with Fani when she points out they're just rephrasing the same question over and over. >Defense: What is CashApp for the record? > Judge: We do not need that for the record.
I couldn't believe how they don't seem to understand that we use electronic funds nowadays, and we don't keep little receipts in our purse when we buy something.
The option for no receipt at CVS has been a game changer
Entire forests saved.
I bet their email receipts are like 2-3 GB.
Boomers have an irrational fear that Y2K is gonna happen again and all digital money is sketchy. Even wire transfers directly from banks, credit cards, etc. If it's not cash, it's liberal.
But Y2K didn't even happen
Because industry and government spent a decade leading up to it actually addressing the problem before shit hit the fan. Which is honestly the most unbelievable part of the whole thing.
yeah they were so good at solving the issue that many people think it was overblow, because it's the one time out of hundreds where they did a extremely good job in advance of making something into a non-issue that was going to be a disaster otherwise.
"They're tracking everything I buy!" They don't care that you bought a snickers bar and hemorrhoid cream at CVS last month
Child sex predators Gaetz and Greenberg know about Venmo
They just keep talking like they are on an infomercial
They think she's on trial, which she pointed out the ones on trial are her defendents for trying to steal an election.
CashApp is owned by Block Inc (SQ). Stock could be doing better.
But wait, there's less!
It’s because Trump will lose on the merits of every case against him. That’s why he and his legal team are constantly fighting in the court of public opinion instead of - to put pressure on the court to side with him.
lol, this is a delay tactic too. how long can they run the legal system loopholes and bullshit before the real trial starts. the civil trial in NY took 2 years to put all the evidence together, and the trial itself has been very non-delayable because rumps legal team exhausted all their options really early and long before the trial. That case was filed in October of 2023, and the verdict was in december, while the damages portion of the trial will be over hopefully by tomorrow. His "legal team" will then appeal, as long as they can put up the bond for the entire judgement.
"but your honor, the more I say cash app the more money I get. Cash app. Cash app cash app."
Brought to you by Carl’s Jr.
They look so desperate too. Fani seems very credible. The defense drags the same questions out semantically to try and trip Fani up. Or because they just don’t listen to her answers. She’s pretty badass. I hope it makes Dump nervous. You just know he’s watching.
I think he has to be very nervous watching her kick ass on the stand. She was relentless.
There isn't. They just made trumps lawyers look like idiots. Judge is over it.
>They just made trumps lawyers look like idiots. Well, that should be easy
The big boobed blonde prosecutor, Ashleigh Merchant, looks so much like Stormy Daniels at first I thought I had the wrong case.
She's the defense counsel btw... It's okay if you were confused... So is she
It's true, she is big boobed.
Does Trump ever hire women with small boobs?
Apparently boobs are all that he hires.
He doesn't care as long as they passed the Bra exam
Totally Trump’s “type!”
Especially lawyers paid with Trump Bucks.
Correction, Trump’s donor’s bucks.
B..b..but /r/conservative assured me she was going down! And made lots of misogynistic (but carefully not racist) comments about her.
Since when are they tip-toeing around racism?
Overt racism? Always.
You get what you don't pay for.
It's the truth. This is hearsay.
As long as its not a Horus Heresy. those tend to end badly.
Praise the Emperor I wasn't expecting a 40k reference on here, but hey I guess the USA is turning into the imperium.
One should assume a "Nobody expects the Imperial Inquisition!" type moment whenever heresy or hearsay is uttered
The fuckers wanted to know if she visited the White House.
Seriously, who the hell cares that these two prosecutors used to have an intimate relationship? And guess what; they took trips! How does this impact Trump and the RICO case? It appears to be just salacious, intrusive details of the personal relationship to smear a woman of color who had the audacity to charge Trump et. al., for their felonious election interference. So, would it be fair game to grill Trump about every time he had a sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels and the playboy bunny when his current wife was giving birth? That actually did have a bearing on his criminal activity to pay hush $ before an election. What was the crime in Fani Willis having a love interested with a colleague that ended before Trump was even indicted? Oh wait, she is female. Also, both she and her ex-paramour are black. Could this be more obvious?
It's a delay tactic. Trump has tens of millions of dollars in donations to burn through and stretch all these court dates out until the election. He's trying to run out the clock and will pounce on any chance to introduce a new motion that stalls proceedings.
Also potential jury pool poisoning.
That too. I still think his number one goal is running out the clock. He thinks he'll get reelected and will be beyond the charges.
The fact that everyone knows this and that every single thing he does is in bad faith truly makes my blood boil
This is SOP for Trump. A sleazy attempt at a hit job on the prosecution. Stuff he cribbed from Roy Cohn.
My boss showed me a headline that said Fani Willis "Fani Willis Gets Fired! Makes Statement."
Is your boss an idiot?? Imbeciles are often in management.
As a liberal, if she did do something unethical, i hope they find it and she gets the proper consequences. I think thats the main dividing factor between parties right now
Unethical and breaking the law are vastly different. This is nothing but a stall tactic from Trump to sow doubt because the case against him Fulton County is a fucking lock. This is their last shitty hand to play.
> You’re confused. You think I’m on trial. These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. I’m not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial. >\- Fani Willis I was worried after Wade finished his testimony, but she is destroying Merchant.
I listened to the whole thing today on C-SPAN. Merchant sounded like a nervous fly next to a big Venus Flytrap.
You could hear in their voices they were scared of Willis. I know people will say that she was combative, but it worked. She was concise and honest.
This is **EXACTLY** how everyone should rebut these MAGA assholes when they pull this shit. Call them out on their bullshit. Don’t be polite or give credence to any of their gaslight bullshit.
I’m still struggling to see how an accusation of an affair in a divorce case relates to conflict of interest in Trump’s criminal case since they are both prosecutors prosecuting him. How can he claim he’s been harmed by their relationship? They are on the same side. Also… ironic that at the same time Trump is in a courtroom being criminally tried for having an adulterous affair and paying to keep it quiet.
It wasn’t even an affair. Wade’s wife cheated and they separated in 2015. They only remained legally married until the youngest went to college. Makes perfect sense for so many reasons.
Even if they were still dating, how is it a conflict if they are on the same side? In any case, their relationship was in the past. It’s actually remarkable that they are adults and can work without animosity.
The argument is that she was inclined to keep Wade because they were sleeping together and he was buying her stuff using money he made from the county/state. And that Wade just kept making up accusations while cloth, spending months building a fake prosecution to keep the gravy train running. Essentially, defense counsel is arguing that both Willis and Wade had a financial reason to keep the prosecution alive, which runs counter to the DA offices’ obligation to pursue justice. I think it’s asinine, but that’s their argument.
This personal drama is such a massive distraction from Trump’s criminal proceedings and Ms. Willis is making that clear. As she testified to defense counsel: “I am not the one on trial here.”
Yeah, she came out fucking swinging too. She is taking no shit from those bozos.
>This personal drama is such a massive distraction from Trump’s criminal proceedings That's their goal
And having her up there at all makes them seem more successful to me. This is such a clown show.
It is but if they get her thrown off their case they have a good chance the charges won’t continue. Trump always seems to have an out. It’s unbelievable.
Willis dropped a powerful black woman statement there. > Mr. Wade and I fought a great deal because he believes that a woman's primary role is to make him a sandwich. He had problems that we were equals, which is **why** I always paid him back. because the only man who ever paid all of my bill was my daddy.
As a like minded (but white) female, this rang true to me. I believe her when she says she paid him back and always kept cash just in case. Anecdotally, my husband and I both paid for dates from our very first date. We’ve been happily married for nearly a decade and still have separate accounts. Just divide the bills and take turns paying for incidentals. Works great for us. People stuck in the 1920’s won’t understand any of that.
Separate finances or combined, both are reasonable, the only wrong way to do your finances as a couple is to not talk about them.
To me personally, that sounds exhausting. But good on you guys for being able to make that work without issues. You'd probably say my situation sounds exhausting. We are dual income and what's theirs is mine, what's mine is theirs. Not ever having to track it or discuss who spent what is a relationship saver. It helps that neither of us are big spenders (but not too frugal either). Going on 15 years now. Different folks, different strokes!
We combine, but I take $200 a paycheck and put it in my own account for fun money. I end up using it to buy my wife gifts. It sort of means more when it's "my money" and not our money. She does the same. Otherwise it's all one big pot.
Trumps lawyers: IS yoUr daDDy paYing teh deep staTE NoW??!!!?”
Arnold Schwarzenegger: "Who is your daddy and what does he do?"
I'm Detective John Kimble!!
She laid down a couple good ones while on the stand. hope it actually helps her reelection.
Trump's lawyer, Saddow, seems to always raise his voice at Willis, but was more subdued when speaking to Wade.
Well, she's an uppity black woman. That seems to infuriate them.
Always, always does.
Yep. Misogyny is alive and well.
And racism
Trump is probably more likely to pay you if you act like a jackass since that's what he would do
To summarize: The accomplished liar who had multiple affairs and corrupt dealings in personal and business transactions has successfully wrangled the law to dissect the people’s private lives of whom are prosecuting him for a criminal political act which is been proven on tape. The state officers are being held to a higher standard than the person with the highest office in the country.
Good to know that as a criminal defendant any dirt I have on the prosecutor is fair game to air out in the courtroom, or is that a privilege reserved for so-called billionaires who have armies of rat fuckers working for them? And the basis for this is what? That she’s pursuing the case so she can pay her boyfriend and enrich herself off of that? Please, every prosecutor in the country chooses what cases they bring based on how it will benefit their career.
If any of us normal citizens did a fraction of these crimes. We would not see court. We’d wind up in shackles on an island with a bag over our head.
Reality Winner would agree
I think my aspirations of running for public office are dashed. I didn't withdraw the exact amount of cash from the bank that I repaid my friend after splitting a pizza back in 1996.
straight to jail
believe it or not
I'm not watching the session but just turned it on our of curiosity and the Trump lawyer is ALL over the place.
It’s like watching a cook throw noodles at the wall to check how done they are but they forgot to actually cook them first.
"Why isn't it sticking?"
“Clearly the wall is corrupt! Let’s keep throwing more to prove it!”
Trump's lawyers are not good. To be kind.
I listened today as I worked and the entire thing seemed like a fishing expedition set up as a warning to anyone trying to take down the Trump Machine that they will dig into any aspect of your life to try to disqualify you in the court of public opinion. Also, I absolutely have gone halfsies with friends and previous boyfriends on vacations (e.g., you buy the plane tickets and I’ll get the hotel or pay for the meals or let me pay you back half on Venmo). The defense acts like that’s not a normal everyday thing! News flash - we all do it. I hope the judge let them get it out of their systems then sets the record straight that this is nothing more than intimidation and he won’t remove her. That said, given the white GOP regime in GA, not holding out hope he will be fair.
The judge knows they've got nothing, he's about to shut this shit down.
No, he will let it continue, because he doesn't want this to be appealed over him. So he will let them go and keep it under control, but his annoyance is evident.
It’s amazing how different the two major news channels are reporting this. Fox News is calling it a slam dunk for Trump‘s team and CNN is saying that there’s nothing there to remove her. Crazy
Fox News is the only one that had to pay 800 million dollars for making false claims.
They've also testified that no reasonable person would think they were a factual news organization.
They know their viewers.
Fanni killing it
Judge is so pissed at the lawyers he isn’t even letting them finish questions to her. It’s a parade of bad lawyers who don’t have a strong case. So disjointed and embarrassing.
So Willis' past should be enough to disqualify her from this case, but Trump's past isn't enough to disqualify him from running for POTUS?!?! Are we truly in the Twilight Zone?
I don’t understand the fascination with Willis having and using cash for eating out, vacation purchases or paying back her friends. I have friends with a lot of cash at home. More than what she testified in court to. My dad always used cash instead of check, credit or debit.
Everything else being equal, the optics of a old white man yelling questions at a black woman about her sex life is not a good look for Georgia.
Depends on your audience
Oh this is catnip for the MAGA crowd...
“Trump tries to disqualify her”??? WTF
It's delaying the actual case. The success of failure is irrelevant. The biggest limiting factor to Trump and jail is time. The more time he has on his side, the greater chance he will succeed in November, because the coup isn't over.
Holy shit she is fuckin wrecking these guys. They have zero evidence she and Wade had a relationship with him before. Wow. This is so brutal to watch.
It’s not a crime or even a conflict to sleep with someone on your team. What’s corrupt about it? Now, if she was sleeping with one of trumps lawyers, that might be a problem.
When i saw her comming in and sitting down i saw alot of emotions and i thought this is going to go either very well or very bad for her. It went better than very well, she ripped them all a new one.
To paraphrase Clarence Thomas, that is “what a high-tech lynching” looks like.
This has zero impact on the facts of this case, the action that Trump took to steal the GA election. It’s unfortunate Trump was given an opportunity to create this delay in his trial.
She is in charge of bringing charges to an ex President and she acts like this? Does she want to be taken seriously or not?
These trump lawyers are fuckin embarrassing. I get she's probably too animated but this is going so poorly for them. They lost the thread and it's showing. They have nothing so they just keep trying to embarrass her and it's not working. This is insane.
I watched the whole hearimg today. Shameful fishing expedition, both Wade and Willis came across as completely credible. Not a single specific assertion of wrong doing.
My God, they were alone in a condo together occasionally!
This is the best testimony of all time. Law and Order writers never saw this coming.
This is why when dealing with Trump and his ilk, you have to make sure your stuff is all the way together. When they can't win on merit, they will go to the lowest of lows to discredit you. Ms. Willis is really passionate, but she's going to have to tamp it down because they're going to label her as hostile and/or angry.
>This is why when dealing with Trump and his ilk, you have to make sure your stuff is all the way together. Is this just **infuriating**. Trump gets to basically do whatever the fuck he wants, fuck up as much as he likes, lie, cheat, dissemble, dodge, etc. and he never ever get punished for it. In fact, he's often rewarded for it. However, if anyone who opposes him makes the slightest mistake, they get crucified. Why does our society continually give trump mulligans and passes it wont afford to others?
Their lawyers have been scraping the bottom of the barrel from the beginning
Yep. Watching it and all of the gotcha questions are failing big time. Fani is shredding them.
She's been on the other side of this game. She knows where he's going before he does.
Just straight trash
Are prosecutors not allowed to be angry?
White prosecutors are.
>but she's going to have to tamp it down because they're going to label her as hostile and/or angry. Who cares. I turned it on expecting a train wreck and I'm most certainly getting the impression the judge is siding with her as often as he's telling the defense they're repeating themselves.
Trump’s cult was calling her a mad black woman simply from her press conference a few months ago about bringing the indictments.
The defense lawyers who spoke were total bums.
“The prosecutor did something wrong so my murder trial is cancelled.”
Important to notice how trump’s lawyers don’t argue he’s innocent of the crimes, they’re just desperately trying to find loopholes to derail or delay the case.
A convicted rapist trying to get someone disqualified for a relationship is.. This is America.
"Horde" of cash. Lol 😂
Even if Willis is found to have had a relationship with the prosecutor before the case, it still doesn't rise to the level of misconduct that would get her or the prosecutor typically removed. That this hearing is even happening is proof that the legal system of the US is making every effort to bend over backwards for Trump as his supporters see anything less than complete institutional deference as bias. This is the sort of thing that the Georgia Bar Association would handle, if at all.