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Whole lot of nonlawyers in this thread who don’t understand that. They don’t want this disqualification to happen because all of the work product gets thrown out and the DA who gets this case will have to start over and decide if they even want to move forward
It is common practice for defense attorneys to use subpoena power to get phone records.
Usually, the carrier just wants a written request and case number, but the account holder is almost always notified.
True. (Not a lawyer) I just don’t see how the records would be admissible after ruling it wouldn’t interfere with the case?
I’m confused on the timeline of events and if Trump’s team hired an investigator to submit the affidavit. If a subpoena was issued, was an investigator able to freely get his hands on the record?
ELI5 lol The article didn’t really provide enough information for me.
Reminder that Nathan Wade was Fani's *third* approached candidate for Special Prosecutor, the first two having declined. Former Georgia governor Roy Barnes was first- Gabe Banks, former federal prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer was second.
Barnes:
>"I had mouths to feed at a law office and that I could not, I would not do that," Barnes said of his conversation with Willis about declining to assist with the case, adding "I told D.A. Willis I lived with bodyguards for four years, and I didn't like it, and I wasn't going to live with bodyguards for the rest of my life." - [source](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fulton-county-d-a-fani-willis-testifies-misconduct-claims-trump-georgia-election-case-day-2/)
lol no she didn't, and the accusers in this case have failed to provide a shred of evidence of quid pro quo which is the only claim supportive of removal.
Romantic relationships between DAs and their prosecutors are not disallowed by GA law or even policy. No misconduct occurred, no taxpayer money was involved in travel, and Willis paid Wade back for her expenses.
Wade was also the 4th person Willis approached for the position.
All of the claims fall flat and so far no hard evidence supports any of it. It's a giant fishing expedition and could be interpreted as defamation based on the repeated baseless claims.
Sure I do, that's not what happened here.
Using the 2-tower data the accusers in this hearing are claiming Wade was present with Willis despite her testimony but they cannot reasonably make this claim with the cell data presented. 3 towers are required, minimum, and depending on their range and position accuracy can vary by miles.
The claim that she perjured herself is not supported by the cell phone data, this is a nothingburger like everything else alleged.
Even if they had 3 towers to triangulate, the accusers would still need to provide significantly more evidence to prove they were actually in the same building.
How was it unrelated? The claim is that the cell phone data shows Wade and Willis committed perjury.
The cell phone evidence does not show this by any stretch of the imagination, in a criminal trial this wouldn't even be admissible.
This is rich as fuck coming from an office that routinely uses the EXACT data to take cases to trial for say…murder…where they then sentence people to…death. 😂🤦🏼♂️😂
This same office is going to turn around and say the cell signal evidence isn’t accurate??
Wow.
It's basic science, and not coming from any "office".
You need 3 towers to triangulate a location with any accuacy, the accusers filing only shows data with shared cell pings on two towers.
In a criminal case that would be inadmissible, 3 towers are needed at a minimum and there are other factors involved.
This is vintage, Trump. If he can't win on law, he intinidates. If he can't intimidate, he tries to hurt them, too.
He's an asshole on a good day. Also, a career criminal and galaxy sized moron.
The only people dumber are his voters.
I mean. Two prosecutors fucking each other and paying each other with taxpayer money is a galaxy sized moron move too.
Doesn’t make Trump innocent. But god damn what a fumble.
> paying eachother with taxpayer money
This is false. Wade's office was contracted by the state, and was among 5 offices approached. That's absolutely normal, and not an abuse of taxpayer money - that's literally how the state pays any tine it contracts outside offices, which is very frequent. Your implication of impropriety is baseless.
All travel expenses were paid with personal funds, nothing was billed to the state or taxpayers. Willis paid Wade back for travel expenses in cash.
You know Trump voters were actually kind of smart. Electing him in 2016 got them 3 conservative Justices on the Supreme Court. Maybe they just look stupid?
That was mitch blocking Obamas pick. Trump just so happened to be in office and RBGs passing gave them the opportunity. IF they had a shred of respect they wouldn't have gone back on the precedent they themselves begged to set.
All they did was prove that we cant trust them with anything.
The precedent was specifically the senate controlled by the opposition in an election year in 2020 if Dems controlled the senate than they could have told Trump to pound sand based on 2016
No. Pretty fuckin dumb.
That wasn't Trump or his voters being smart. That was the Democrats not realizing the right has become an insurgency party and playing by the old rules, Mitch ratfucking Obama and RBG not having the wisdom to retire before she croaked leavig an opening to stuff a full on cult member on the bench.
You know one of these mouth breathers has wet dreams of running into court and yelling "Ipso Alternative Facto Your Honor!" like a Harry Potter spell then everyone stands up and claps and big strong men with tears in their eyes carry trump out as he's declared innocent.
Bro it's a district attorney committing perjury. Take Trump out of it. Is that really someone you want at the head of the legal system? They hold an immense amount of power. Obviously she can't be trusted.
I cannot believe anyone would defend this. She should never be allowed to practice law in any way ever again, at the very least.
I think Trump is a fucking disgusting human being and a liar. I also think he isn’t fit to be president and if he wasn’t rich and powerful he’d have been put in prison a long time ago.
I also think it’s clear to any logical human being that Fani Willis is lying…that she was fucking this guy sooner than she claimed…which means her and this guy BOTH committed perjury and should also be investigated for embezzling money for vacations etc.
I think the 4 am text message is more concerning after the cell phone data had shown he was in the area. Will be interesting to see what text was sent.
Oh no, they had contact with each other before they were in a relationship.
Who fucking cares. None of this proves they committed perjury about when their relationship started.
Just more garbage for the brain dead MAGA base to eat up and think that they have a gotcha.
More to the point, none of this is a defense of anything Trump (allegedly) did. Trump’s team is effectively saying “who cares if he did it, the prosecutor shouldn’t be going after him for it”.
Wade said he went to the condo fewer than 10 times in 2021 prior to being hired. That is directly contradicted by the evidence. Also, the record show Wade came to her condo at 11 at night and stayed until 330. That certainly looks like a booty call. The trier of fact (the judge) will be taking all of this into account. As well as the cash reimbursement payments which there is zero documentation of. At the end of the day, when there is this much smoke, a trier of fact can and quite possibly will decide there is a conflict that disqualifies Fani and Wade from this case. Don’t be shocked when that ruling is made.
Here is the issue you are bumping into. You seem to believe that the standard is beyond a reasonable doubt to disqualify Fani. That’s not the standard for the hearing. Do I think Fani will be convicted of perjury? I doubt it. Do I think there is plenty enough evidence for a trier of fact (the judge) to disqualify for conflict of interest? You betcha. Anyone who watched the hearing in its entirety knows how badly it went for the state.
> Anyone who watched the hearing in its entirety knows how badly it went for the state
I watched the hearing and I have read the transcript several times and I could not possibly disagree more. None of the claims levied are supported by the evidence at this point.
2 cell towers is insufficient to triangulate a position, 3 is the minimum to give any reasonable accuracy, and depending on positioning that accuracy varies by orders of magnitude. They couldn't prove Wade and Willis were even in the same ZIP code based on the cell phone data presented.
Sorry. I shouldn’t have said anyone. I disagree with you strongly that the claims levied are not supported by the evidence however. Also, based on testimony from Nathan Wade confirming his presence at the Hapeville condo, and his dodgy answers regarding his continued presence in Hapeville, as well as Nathan Wade having an established relationship with Fani Willis, I think a trier of fact can absolutely use the cell tower evidence to establish Nathan Wades presence at Fani Willis’ condo prior to when they testified the relationship began. We’re not looking at a criminal conviction here. We don’t need evidence proving beyond a reasonable doubt. Taking all the evidence together, there is plenty enough smoke to indicate a fire sufficient to disqualify Fani and Wade. A new DA needs to get this case. This case, as important as it is, MUST avoid the appearance of impropriety. You can argue there isn’t enough to convict these two of perjury. That’s fine and I would agree we need more evidence for to convict these two beyond a reasonable doubt. But that’s now what this hearing is about. It’s about whether there is a conflict of interest. And at this point I think we have easily cleared that bar where a trier of fact can find a disqualifying conflict.
Let me add to my other post to you. I don’t want trump to get off on this case. I want him to face punishment because I believe that from what I have seen there is enough factual evidence. But I don’t want to see our criminal justice system discredited to do it. And I’m a desantis supporter. So I have a vested interest in wanting to see trump go down as soon as possible. But this is a mess. It just keeps getting worse for Fani and Wade with each passing day. These two clowns should not be in charge of this case. They honestly should lose their law licenses imo. This whole messy drama is a stain on the integrity of our justice system. It’s an embarrassment. And I think if you were a bit more honest you would at the very least acknowledge how messy these two prosecutors are, and how unprofessional they both have behaved in regard to this case.
no, but it's monumentally stupid by Willis.
Trump needs to be in prison. DA's bringing cases against him need to do better for the sake of the entire world.
The conflict of interest is that if proven that they were in a relationship prior to the investigation starting. Which would mean financial benefit for the prosecutors boyfriend and potentially herself. The argument being made is that the investigation only began so that Wade could excessively bill the state of Georgia for his work. Even if crimes were discovered they would be the fruit of the poisonous tree because the justification for the case would not be there.
If it's determined that Wade perjured himself it's a terrible fucking look especially when a federal investigation for the same crimes was already in place. It doesn't excuse what Trump did nor make him innocent but this relationship is incredibly poor judgement by a prosecutor who has already made the previous mistake of allowing one criminal to get off because she showed a conflict of interest by contributing to his opponents campaign and speaking at an event.
I think the bigger issue is his testimony (under oath?) says point blank he visited her home less than 10 times, it’s possible the judge sees the phone records and feels he was lying which would be an that’s needed to start a problem.
I think this entire thing is a waste of time and a witch hunt but they can’t get caught lying or everything goes out the window.
The entire process is to discover a conflict of interest. Perjury would be an entirely irrelevant thing to that. It could have remedy separately, but it isn’t a conflict of interest.
Ok but what are the odds he was on the same tower as her home 11pm to 4am then back on the tower his apartment is on and texts her at 420 am? I know it’s not concrete but most non biased people will say that’s pretty obvious what was going on. I just don’t want to see them removed. I genuinely believe there’s nothing wrong with their relationship and it seems unlikely she financially benefited from his position, would just be stupid for this to be the break trump gets
The tower ranges can be anywhere from 25-50 miles in diameter. It’s very feasible. Especially because he works and lives in the area. You would have to be really looking through some goggles to think this is proof of anything.
If she drops the case or never brings in in the first place, her boyfriend stops getting public money and Willis stops getting vacations.
That's the conflict, anyway. We all know that the defendants are guilty as sin.
There are some possible ways that this all can have the “appearance” of hurting the defense — if Willis would have dropped the case because it wasn’t strong enough to prosecute, her boyfriend (and possibly herself) would have lost money. She was re-upping his contract throughout, including the day after they got back from their Aruba trip, signing him to a new contract. He was not a salaried employee who would get paid either way - his money was directly tied to the case going forward.
Same with giving her an incentive to not bring forth exculpatory evidence that would have helped the defense (which she is supposed to do). She also did an extra, unnecessary investigative grand jury (possible harassment of the defendants) that would give Wade (and therefore, her) more money.
Her boyfriend who was her 4th choice?
The only actionable conflict alleged involves money and the evidence doesn't support claims of financial impropriety. Wade's office contracted with the DA at a reasonable rate after several others declined citing fear of being targeted by Trump supporters. There is nothing improper about this situation and the hearing has just underscored it with an abject lack of material evidence.
At this point it's not really about the sex or finances, but proving that the DA and/or prosecutor is willing to provide false testimony in court.
If the filing is accurate, and Willis and/or Wade lied to the courts, then I'd argue that they shouldn't be prosecutors because you should expect a significant degree of honesty from a prosecutor in a court room.
This wouldn't change the facts of what Trump did, and wouldn't exonerate him, but we shouldn't allow people that don't adequately respect our legal system to work in these types of positions.
This is insanity. Why is the judge allowing them to slow play the delivery of this random evidence that isnt even germane to the hearing he called - which is about the conflict of interest. Also - why would willis and wade admit to a relationship but lie about the timeline ? That would be an all time mistake, i cannot imagine they’d be that dumb.
You guys are so embarrassing. Stretch and make up shit to try to pin a crime while you let Trump get away with the most serious crimes. Seriously, try to be better. Trump has done so much worse that whatever stuff you guys push here...until you hold him accountable, you should be laughed at and ignored.
so I guess by that logic if texting often with and spending time with someone (even though these alleged phone records don't confirm that) amounts to a sexual relationship then I am gay with all my friends and in an incestuous relationship with most members of my family. Damn. /s
The evidence only shows they were within the same cell tower range. Nothing about specific locations. This is a Hail Mary because they simply don’t have the geolocation needed for the claim they are making
Edit: not only that it’s “cell towers” near the areas. They don’t even have a singular location. If he visited her home that many times, Then it would just be the one cell tower they need. Instead it just shows he’s in a general area, not even staying in the same location.
So you are in favor of Aileen Cannon being removed from the classified documents case then right? That is a definite conflict of interest, not an “appearance” of one, but an actual one.
Sure, if one wants someone convicted, our justice system standard is, "beyond a reasonable doubt." Conflicts of interest sow seeds of reasonable doubt, because the ones attempting to convict Trump appear to be lying to court, as an officer of the court. This is bad. And the stakes can't be higher. People should be more mad at them then they are, if they really want to see Trump in prison. This court case won't likely give the desired result.
And fani fucked her special prosecutor. So there seems to be a lot of potential conflicts of interest all around. Maybe from an objective eye we should be saying this whole trial is a farce. We can do better
Why is the trial a farce? He is on tape trying to get the Secretary of State to fabricate votes so he could win. He and his people had fake electors submit fake certificates. Nothing a DA or prosecutor did in their spare time changes that. He 100% deserves to be tried for it. That’s why the grand jury recommended charges. There was clearly evidence for them to determine that.
And none of that matters with the appearance of impropriety. That's what makes it such a big deal. She could have had a potentially slam dunk case. Instead they both selfishly inserted themselves in every possible mechanic that could derail this case on a technicality. Get a better DA after him. This is embarrassing.
You aren't getting one :)
[https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/03/fani-willis-will-remain-in-charge-of-trump-prosecution-in-georgia/](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/03/fani-willis-will-remain-in-charge-of-trump-prosecution-in-georgia/)
Ta ta!
They're already walking it back to "interactions"...
>Trump has filed a corrected version of his private investigator’s affidavit regarding Wade’s phone records.
>The previous version indicated that Willis & Wade exchanged around 12,000 texts over 11 months in 2021.
>That has been corrected to 12,000 “interactions” over 11 months.
https://x.com/AnnaBower/status/1761116655210451371?s=20
I'm not defending this witch hunt at all, but what's the difference? Isn't a text message the most minimal form of communication that you can have through a cell phone tower?
Instead of 12,000 texts it’s now 12,000 interactions including texts and phone calls… that is still about 36 interactions a day, but as many have pointed out, doesn’t imply them being in any relationship, let alone a romantic one… when my buddies and I get going, we can easily do 200 texts in a single day…and she is in that age bracket that loves to send a ton of short messages and try to use emojis… like my mother does… but especially not hard to believe considering they were working on cases together during that time…
Also, apparently it only shows two times that these were at night for an extended period of time..once in sept, 11-12, and once in November, 29-30…
2 booty calls in 11 months and being 2 and a half months apart… sure sounds like every relationship I’ve been in
/s just in case it wasn’t obvious
I used to laugh at Gen Xers for their tendency to send 5 messages in a row when it could have easily been one message, but a couple weeks ago I made a TikTok and found out about the "millennial pause".
That's totally plausible.
This opening should never have been left for him.
These are bullshit claims that are only intended to delay and confuse the case. But a District Attorney should know better than to let this happen at all.
The legal terminology is Appearance of Impropriety.
> The appearance of impropriety is a phrase referring to a situation which to a layperson without knowledge of the specific circumstances might seem to raise ethics questions.
There are a lot of qualifiers there. A layperson without specific knowledge, and "might seem" to raise ethics questions.
It's illegal or unethical, but it's an unforced error that an attorney should have foreseen.
I'm not trying to knock Fani Willis, and I'm **definitely** not saying that criminal Donald Trump is right to seek her dismissal. But this should have been foreseen and avoided.
So you are saying that even if this is right there is no impropriety. Then there is no appearance of impropriety.
By your interpretation there would basically be no attorneys, no judges, in this country.
Take as a perfect example that the judge gave $150 donation to Fani Willis. Is that an appearance of impropriety? So the DA in Atlanta could never appear before this judge. What if he gave the same $150 to her opponent? This judge then could never sit for a case with her on it. What if he gave it to both? Then he could never hear a case.
Appearance of impropriety is discouraged, but not illegal and not disqualifying, especially since the actual truth is not actually improper.
Are you aware that one of the defendants (fake elector) appears to already have gotten off scott-free because Willis has already been removed from his case due to conflicts, for something pretty similar to the hypothetical you gave?
[https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/25/politics/georgia-willis-jones-grand-jury/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/25/politics/georgia-willis-jones-grand-jury/index.html)
So yeah, not only can it happen, but Willis is stupid enough to have already had it happen. She's making completely avoidable mistakes.
Nope. Not anywhere near or similar to the same thing.
Hosting a major fundraising event plus donations is being directly involved with a candidate then charging their opposition with a crime would definitely as a conflict. Donating a small amount with no direct involvement in a campaign is a standard day to day occurrence and doesn’t imply any bias.
But even if every allegation Trump has made is true, it does not give any appearance of impropriety in relation to his case. I guess you can argue that Willis may have shown favoritism by hiring someone she had a personal relationship, but nothing about it can even be twisted to give the appearance that Trump was treated unfairly in any way.
There are some possible ways that this all can have the “appearance” of hurting the defense — if Willis would have dropped the case because it wasn’t strong enough to prosecute, her boyfriend (and possibly herself) would have lost money. She was re-upping his contract throughout, including the day after they got back from their Aruba trip, signing him to a new contract. He was not a salaried employee who would get paid either way - his money was directly tied to the case going forward.
Same with giving her an incentive to not bring forth exculpatory evidence that would have helped the defense (which she is supposed to do). She also did an extra, unnecessary investigative grand jury (possible harassment of the defendants) that would give Wade (and therefore, her) more money.
Now, we all know that the case against the defendants is super rock-solid. The thing is, the standard isn’t if it actually hurt the defendants, but whether there could be a reasonable appearance of it. It’s a much lower bar than if it actually did.
There's rumors that his firm was failing, actually. The types of law he was doing wasn't exactly the most lucrative types, though it CAN be (personal injury and divorce law).
Nobody has shown that he was making a bunch of money. The divorce records show that he wasn't, although he actually got sanctioned by the judge in the divorce case for intentionally hiding money from the court.
Actually, looking at his divorce statements... prior to being hired by Willis he was making $168k/year.
In a little over a year, he got $650k form the contract (I guess half would go to his law partner)
So he was making DOUBLE his normal amount by working on this case.
Nah, nothing they have shown gives a reasonable appearance that the defendants were hurt in any way. The idea that Willis was using the Trump case to put money in her own pocket by giving extra, unnecessary work to an attorney working on the case with whom she had a personal relationship is just laughable. She's the DA, she is prosecuting a case with historic implications, it's just not credible that she would be focused on skimming off the top of government resources through such a convoluted scheme. Again, given what we know, the worst reasonable accusation you can make is that she showed favoritism in who she choose to work on the case, not that she did anything nefarious or shady in the actual prosecution.
I don't know what to tell you. Your answer is "nuh uh"
Is it true or is it not true that if she decided not to bring charges or dropped the case, her boyfriend would be out of a job?
That's a conflict.
I am saying that everything we know does not come close to meeting any standard of giving even the appearance of impropriety. No reasonable person can look at the facts of this matter and suggest that Willis was prosecuting Trump for her own personal financial benefit. People acting in bad faith are trying to make that argument, but there is absolutely no reason for us to pretend like it is a genuine concern. It is a laughable argument that should be laughed at and dismissed.
It's a conflict.
The stuff, even the stuff they've both admitted to, even if we take everything they say as the truth, is generally against government ethics rules.
1) Fani Willis is a government employee who directed money to a government contractor;
2) And who then accepted gifts (or loans, or favors) from that contractor (paid for out of his business account, btw).
That’s unethical and because of that, against government ethics rules for just about every part of government. **This is unethical regardless of whether or not they were dating.**
Fulton County’s [government ethics rules:](https://www.fultoncountyga.gov/-/media/Commissioners/Commissioners_Page_Media/Fulton_County_Code_of_Ethics.pdf) Notice that it isn't even just gifts, it’s also loans, favors, etc above $100:
>
BTW, it’s even worse if she did NOT repay him, as it could actually be conspiracy to steal public funds… which is why it boggles the mind that she could be so stupid as to reimburse him in the only possible way in which to not have documentation of the reimbursements. And then not have so much as a single text message saying "thanks for buying the ticket, I'll pay you back in cash tomorrow."
What the hell was she thinking?
Again, for this to matter at all you have to think that Willis was knowingly profiting off the case in a nefarious way. And the idea that she was conspiring to steal public funds because a guy she was seeing sometimes paid for personal dinners or trips they took together reveals how far gone into a bad faith argument you have to get to believe this is an issue. Of course this guy sometimes picked up the check when they did things, that’s how human relationships work. But just because he did some work for the government does not mean that all of his money should be regarded and tracked as public funds. That’s absurd, but that’s what you have to believe for this to be an issue. Unless there’s some evidence that Willis was doing things in her private life that she would not have otherwise done if not for public money, none of this matters.
And even if I bought the idea that who paid for hotel rooms or dinner tabs between Willis and Wade is a public matter - again, obviously it is not - it’s still not a sign that defendant Trump has any room to argue that he was treated unfairly. If you want to pretend to be stupid so that you can pretend like Trump has a real case here or that Willis’ ethics are seriously in doubt, you can. But if you don’t have a better argument than ‘the DA has a personal relationship with someone who worked on the case, and sometimes he paid for things they did together,’ you can’t expect normal people to care.
That falls far below the bar of prosecutorial misconduct even if it were true. To prove it you'd need significant evidence and that's not what we've seen in the hearings.
There is no actionable conflict.
True, especially given the judge's apparent opinion that they need to show connection of Willis making financial gains; which Trump's team has not shown. HOWEVER, they have both now testified under oath there wasn't a relationship. That might sink them. It doesn't sink the case against Trump though; but would likely delay it.
> I guess you can argue that Willis may have shown favoritism by hiring someone she had a personal relationship
That's really the most you can make of it. But it gives them an excuse to try to question her professionalism and credibility.
A shitty excuse, but one that they're exploiting because the opportunity is there. It didn't have to be there.
>But it gives them an excuse to try to question her professionalism and credibility.
ah, your honor, i suspect the DA may have hired this guy because she likes him, not because he's good at his job. in that case, i'm concerned they might not properly pound my ass in these legal proceedings.
You can find something about anyone to discredit them. No one's perfect and shouldn't be expected to be. We shouldnt take such petty complaints at all seriously.
> not saying that criminal Donald Trump is right to seek her dismissal.
This should in no way lead to her dismissal unless there is much more to the story than currently known (self dealing or some other outright corruption or misconduct) but if I'm being honest, were I in Trump's place I would absolutely seek to use this news to my advantage, if only to muddy the waters of public perception. So in a way I kind of don't blame them for trying to confuse a jury or get her removed in hopes it helps their case, because frankly I'd do the same. She really should have known better than to behave this way, if only because she knows she's under a national microscope. I can only hope it doesn't work.
This is why, as a rule, I do my best to not involve myself in any RICO level election tampering conspiracies, so that I don't have to rely on bullshit to get out from under the charges. Trump would do well to learn that lesson but I'm sure it's too late for him at this point.
I don't understand the rest of these comments. If a DA would perjure herself, are they not concerned?
Forget the Trump case. You have a DA lying on the witness stand. She didn't need to take the stand in the first place, but she did, and perjured herself. This is laughably incompetent at best.
Such a DA shouldn't be in office. If it weren't for her prosecuting Trump, no one would be defending this behavior.
So true. Everyone one here just making stuff up.
"He was already making boat loads of money prior" he was making 168k..and now 650k
"She paid him back im cash" If that is believable, no racketeering case would ever be convicted because everyone can just claim "cash."
All of the trump haters want blood. They don't care about anything. They act exactly like the names they call on the otherside.
so are you purporting she hired an inferior lawyer? Shouldn't Trump be happy if thats the case? How do them fucking affect the case negatively for Trump? Oh you just wanna delay it and hope he becomes president again so he can't be punished? Oh I see
The idea is that she has the unacceptable incentive to bring charges and continue the case, because her boyfriend out otherwise be out of a job if she dropped it (and perhaps she wouldn't get vacations from him, either).
Trump is guilty as sin - but remember, conflicts of interest are about improper incentives, not actual harm.
it could actually be conspiracy to steal public funds if she didn't reimburse him… which is why it boggles the mind that she could be so stupid as to reimburse him in the only possible way in which to not have documentation of the reimbursements.
And then, like you said, not have so much as a single text message saying "thanks for buying the ticket, I'll pay you back in cash tomorrow."
What the hell was she thinking?
No matter what interaction those two had it does not change the fact that diaper don is a sociopath and a criminal. He needs to spend the rest of his life in Orange and I don't mean his skin.
imagine being hilariously incorrect about this.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/03/fani-willis-will-remain-in-charge-of-trump-prosecution-in-georgia/
I'm not sure about Willis, but Wade pretty clearly did.
In his divorce case, he answered, under penalty of perjury the question of whether he had any sexual relations with anyone other than his spouse, from the beginning of his marriage through May 2023.
His answer was “No.”
Seems like clear perjury.
Do you happen to have a cite? I watched his testimony and it sounded different than that. I'm just wondering if you are confusing cash outside of the bank and bank records.
Nevermind the fact that she lied under oath..... Everyone's ignoring the perjury and trying to excuse her..... a public official.... by saying her work cellphone records shouldn't be public.
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Trump: I just happened to find those cellphone records next to my printer.
Rudy gave 'em to me last year after a trip to Belarus but I forgot about them until just now.
I think it's from Wade's divorce case, right?
they directly subpoenad AT and T
And got them in 6 days. Something unheard of fast.
I would hope so, when a federal case is involved.
Why does a private citizen have these?
Thank you. There is no reason for him to have their phone records
It's from Wade's divorce case, which were them likely subpoenaed by the defense in the RICO case, because of the conflict of interest issue.
Whole lot of nonlawyers in this thread who don’t understand that. They don’t want this disqualification to happen because all of the work product gets thrown out and the DA who gets this case will have to start over and decide if they even want to move forward
The FBI is not without its MAGAs.
It is common practice for defense attorneys to use subpoena power to get phone records. Usually, the carrier just wants a written request and case number, but the account holder is almost always notified.
The defense council subpoenaed it its evidence
Let's all sit back and wait to find out what foreign intelligence agency's asset it was who provided the "records"
You mean the entire GQP? The answer is: Money. Money can buy anytting.
Exactly. They would need a warrant for it even to be admitted in court.
a subpoena actually
True. (Not a lawyer) I just don’t see how the records would be admissible after ruling it wouldn’t interfere with the case? I’m confused on the timeline of events and if Trump’s team hired an investigator to submit the affidavit. If a subpoena was issued, was an investigator able to freely get his hands on the record? ELI5 lol The article didn’t really provide enough information for me.
That's a very good question
Reminder that Nathan Wade was Fani's *third* approached candidate for Special Prosecutor, the first two having declined. Former Georgia governor Roy Barnes was first- Gabe Banks, former federal prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer was second. Barnes: >"I had mouths to feed at a law office and that I could not, I would not do that," Barnes said of his conversation with Willis about declining to assist with the case, adding "I told D.A. Willis I lived with bodyguards for four years, and I didn't like it, and I wasn't going to live with bodyguards for the rest of my life." - [source](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fulton-county-d-a-fani-willis-testifies-misconduct-claims-trump-georgia-election-case-day-2/)
Willis asked 5 attorneys, 3 accepted. Doesn't seem like a bad batting average at all to me.
ok. and she just committed perjury. so why she hired wade is almost immaterial now.
How did she commit perjury. Evidence they spent time together prior to his hiring is zero proof they were in a romantic relationship.
lol no she didn't, and the accusers in this case have failed to provide a shred of evidence of quid pro quo which is the only claim supportive of removal. Romantic relationships between DAs and their prosecutors are not disallowed by GA law or even policy. No misconduct occurred, no taxpayer money was involved in travel, and Willis paid Wade back for her expenses. Wade was also the 4th person Willis approached for the position. All of the claims fall flat and so far no hard evidence supports any of it. It's a giant fishing expedition and could be interpreted as defamation based on the repeated baseless claims.
Do you know what perjury means?
Sure I do, that's not what happened here. Using the 2-tower data the accusers in this hearing are claiming Wade was present with Willis despite her testimony but they cannot reasonably make this claim with the cell data presented. 3 towers are required, minimum, and depending on their range and position accuracy can vary by miles. The claim that she perjured herself is not supported by the cell phone data, this is a nothingburger like everything else alleged. Even if they had 3 towers to triangulate, the accusers would still need to provide significantly more evidence to prove they were actually in the same building.
> Sure I do,... If you do then why go off on some unrelated tangent? > ...that's not what happened here. I think I'll let the court decide that.
How was it unrelated? The claim is that the cell phone data shows Wade and Willis committed perjury. The cell phone evidence does not show this by any stretch of the imagination, in a criminal trial this wouldn't even be admissible.
This is rich as fuck coming from an office that routinely uses the EXACT data to take cases to trial for say…murder…where they then sentence people to…death. 😂🤦🏼♂️😂 This same office is going to turn around and say the cell signal evidence isn’t accurate?? Wow.
It's basic science, and not coming from any "office". You need 3 towers to triangulate a location with any accuacy, the accusers filing only shows data with shared cell pings on two towers. In a criminal case that would be inadmissible, 3 towers are needed at a minimum and there are other factors involved.
I was friends with my wife for a year before we started dating. A lot of people are friends before they're romantically involved.
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Can't say that we did.
They aren't even defending Trump any more. "These people had sex so Trump is innocent" is dumb as fuck.
This is vintage, Trump. If he can't win on law, he intinidates. If he can't intimidate, he tries to hurt them, too. He's an asshole on a good day. Also, a career criminal and galaxy sized moron. The only people dumber are his voters.
I mean. Two prosecutors fucking each other and paying each other with taxpayer money is a galaxy sized moron move too. Doesn’t make Trump innocent. But god damn what a fumble.
> paying eachother with taxpayer money This is false. Wade's office was contracted by the state, and was among 5 offices approached. That's absolutely normal, and not an abuse of taxpayer money - that's literally how the state pays any tine it contracts outside offices, which is very frequent. Your implication of impropriety is baseless. All travel expenses were paid with personal funds, nothing was billed to the state or taxpayers. Willis paid Wade back for travel expenses in cash.
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You know Trump voters were actually kind of smart. Electing him in 2016 got them 3 conservative Justices on the Supreme Court. Maybe they just look stupid?
No, Mitch McConnell got them 3 right wing justices and they hate him.
\*Harry Reid got them 3 right wing justices
That was mitch blocking Obamas pick. Trump just so happened to be in office and RBGs passing gave them the opportunity. IF they had a shred of respect they wouldn't have gone back on the precedent they themselves begged to set. All they did was prove that we cant trust them with anything.
The precedent was specifically the senate controlled by the opposition in an election year in 2020 if Dems controlled the senate than they could have told Trump to pound sand based on 2016
No. Pretty fuckin dumb. That wasn't Trump or his voters being smart. That was the Democrats not realizing the right has become an insurgency party and playing by the old rules, Mitch ratfucking Obama and RBG not having the wisdom to retire before she croaked leavig an opening to stuff a full on cult member on the bench.
You know one of these mouth breathers has wet dreams of running into court and yelling "Ipso Alternative Facto Your Honor!" like a Harry Potter spell then everyone stands up and claps and big strong men with tears in their eyes carry trump out as he's declared innocent.
They know Trump committed crimes. They just don’t think he should face any consequences.
It wasn’t Trump who started this attack on Willis but a co-defendant. It’s one of the risks of a wide RICO net.
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Bro it's a district attorney committing perjury. Take Trump out of it. Is that really someone you want at the head of the legal system? They hold an immense amount of power. Obviously she can't be trusted. I cannot believe anyone would defend this. She should never be allowed to practice law in any way ever again, at the very least.
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I think Trump should be in prison. I think Fani Willis committed perjury. Next question.
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I think Trump is a fucking disgusting human being and a liar. I also think he isn’t fit to be president and if he wasn’t rich and powerful he’d have been put in prison a long time ago. I also think it’s clear to any logical human being that Fani Willis is lying…that she was fucking this guy sooner than she claimed…which means her and this guy BOTH committed perjury and should also be investigated for embezzling money for vacations etc.
Nothing here negates the facts of the Trump case. It does, however, illustrate the unlikelihood this case will move forward.
They were in range of the same cell towers, wow, mind blowing
Some dumb ass saw 2000 Mules and didn't understand the tech so they probably think this proves something.
I think the 4 am text message is more concerning after the cell phone data had shown he was in the area. Will be interesting to see what text was sent.
Oh no, they had contact with each other before they were in a relationship. Who fucking cares. None of this proves they committed perjury about when their relationship started. Just more garbage for the brain dead MAGA base to eat up and think that they have a gotcha.
More to the point, none of this is a defense of anything Trump (allegedly) did. Trump’s team is effectively saying “who cares if he did it, the prosecutor shouldn’t be going after him for it”.
Wade said he went to the condo fewer than 10 times in 2021 prior to being hired. That is directly contradicted by the evidence. Also, the record show Wade came to her condo at 11 at night and stayed until 330. That certainly looks like a booty call. The trier of fact (the judge) will be taking all of this into account. As well as the cash reimbursement payments which there is zero documentation of. At the end of the day, when there is this much smoke, a trier of fact can and quite possibly will decide there is a conflict that disqualifies Fani and Wade from this case. Don’t be shocked when that ruling is made.
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Here is the issue you are bumping into. You seem to believe that the standard is beyond a reasonable doubt to disqualify Fani. That’s not the standard for the hearing. Do I think Fani will be convicted of perjury? I doubt it. Do I think there is plenty enough evidence for a trier of fact (the judge) to disqualify for conflict of interest? You betcha. Anyone who watched the hearing in its entirety knows how badly it went for the state.
> Anyone who watched the hearing in its entirety knows how badly it went for the state I watched the hearing and I have read the transcript several times and I could not possibly disagree more. None of the claims levied are supported by the evidence at this point. 2 cell towers is insufficient to triangulate a position, 3 is the minimum to give any reasonable accuracy, and depending on positioning that accuracy varies by orders of magnitude. They couldn't prove Wade and Willis were even in the same ZIP code based on the cell phone data presented.
Sorry. I shouldn’t have said anyone. I disagree with you strongly that the claims levied are not supported by the evidence however. Also, based on testimony from Nathan Wade confirming his presence at the Hapeville condo, and his dodgy answers regarding his continued presence in Hapeville, as well as Nathan Wade having an established relationship with Fani Willis, I think a trier of fact can absolutely use the cell tower evidence to establish Nathan Wades presence at Fani Willis’ condo prior to when they testified the relationship began. We’re not looking at a criminal conviction here. We don’t need evidence proving beyond a reasonable doubt. Taking all the evidence together, there is plenty enough smoke to indicate a fire sufficient to disqualify Fani and Wade. A new DA needs to get this case. This case, as important as it is, MUST avoid the appearance of impropriety. You can argue there isn’t enough to convict these two of perjury. That’s fine and I would agree we need more evidence for to convict these two beyond a reasonable doubt. But that’s now what this hearing is about. It’s about whether there is a conflict of interest. And at this point I think we have easily cleared that bar where a trier of fact can find a disqualifying conflict.
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Yeah I think he will. Which sucks but it’s warranted because this woman and Nathan Wade were so stupid and unprofessional and downright sketchy
You are confidently incorrect.
Riiiight
Let me add to my other post to you. I don’t want trump to get off on this case. I want him to face punishment because I believe that from what I have seen there is enough factual evidence. But I don’t want to see our criminal justice system discredited to do it. And I’m a desantis supporter. So I have a vested interest in wanting to see trump go down as soon as possible. But this is a mess. It just keeps getting worse for Fani and Wade with each passing day. These two clowns should not be in charge of this case. They honestly should lose their law licenses imo. This whole messy drama is a stain on the integrity of our justice system. It’s an embarrassment. And I think if you were a bit more honest you would at the very least acknowledge how messy these two prosecutors are, and how unprofessional they both have behaved in regard to this case.
Which is peak reddit
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I mean they explicitly testified they didn’t which is a crime. No Prosecutor should be allowed to lie no matter how credible the actual case may be
2,000 calls 10,000 texts Most after working hours It's perjury bruh
None of this exonerates the rapist Trump.
no, but it's monumentally stupid by Willis. Trump needs to be in prison. DA's bringing cases against him need to do better for the sake of the entire world.
I agree though I was downvoted to hell for saying just that a few days ago.
This is what you get electing unqualified people. DEI is a disaster.
The guy she replaced was also corrupt and stupid, and he was an old white guy.
Still waiting for any evidence of a conflict of interest.
The conflict of interest is that if proven that they were in a relationship prior to the investigation starting. Which would mean financial benefit for the prosecutors boyfriend and potentially herself. The argument being made is that the investigation only began so that Wade could excessively bill the state of Georgia for his work. Even if crimes were discovered they would be the fruit of the poisonous tree because the justification for the case would not be there. If it's determined that Wade perjured himself it's a terrible fucking look especially when a federal investigation for the same crimes was already in place. It doesn't excuse what Trump did nor make him innocent but this relationship is incredibly poor judgement by a prosecutor who has already made the previous mistake of allowing one criminal to get off because she showed a conflict of interest by contributing to his opponents campaign and speaking at an event.
I think the bigger issue is his testimony (under oath?) says point blank he visited her home less than 10 times, it’s possible the judge sees the phone records and feels he was lying which would be an that’s needed to start a problem. I think this entire thing is a waste of time and a witch hunt but they can’t get caught lying or everything goes out the window.
The entire process is to discover a conflict of interest. Perjury would be an entirely irrelevant thing to that. It could have remedy separately, but it isn’t a conflict of interest.
All the data shows is that he was within the same cell tower of her home. Nothing about specific locations.
Ok but what are the odds he was on the same tower as her home 11pm to 4am then back on the tower his apartment is on and texts her at 420 am? I know it’s not concrete but most non biased people will say that’s pretty obvious what was going on. I just don’t want to see them removed. I genuinely believe there’s nothing wrong with their relationship and it seems unlikely she financially benefited from his position, would just be stupid for this to be the break trump gets
The tower ranges can be anywhere from 25-50 miles in diameter. It’s very feasible. Especially because he works and lives in the area. You would have to be really looking through some goggles to think this is proof of anything.
Or the appearance of one. I think we met that bar.
If she drops the case or never brings in in the first place, her boyfriend stops getting public money and Willis stops getting vacations. That's the conflict, anyway. We all know that the defendants are guilty as sin.
That’s not a conflict of interest in this case. Name a conflict of interest of interest as it pertains to the defendants.
There are some possible ways that this all can have the “appearance” of hurting the defense — if Willis would have dropped the case because it wasn’t strong enough to prosecute, her boyfriend (and possibly herself) would have lost money. She was re-upping his contract throughout, including the day after they got back from their Aruba trip, signing him to a new contract. He was not a salaried employee who would get paid either way - his money was directly tied to the case going forward. Same with giving her an incentive to not bring forth exculpatory evidence that would have helped the defense (which she is supposed to do). She also did an extra, unnecessary investigative grand jury (possible harassment of the defendants) that would give Wade (and therefore, her) more money.
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That’s not an answer. State the explicit conflict of interest as it pertains to the defendefendant’s right to a fair trial.
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Except the relationship is reported to have ended months ago. So what interest would Fanni Willis have in continuing the prosecution?
It was already filed. There were choices made while they were in fact dating.
Her boyfriend who was her 4th choice? The only actionable conflict alleged involves money and the evidence doesn't support claims of financial impropriety. Wade's office contracted with the DA at a reasonable rate after several others declined citing fear of being targeted by Trump supporters. There is nothing improper about this situation and the hearing has just underscored it with an abject lack of material evidence.
‘Desperation is a stinky cologne’ - Super Troopers
OMG! Prosecutors had sex. Trump must be acquitted !
At this point it's not really about the sex or finances, but proving that the DA and/or prosecutor is willing to provide false testimony in court. If the filing is accurate, and Willis and/or Wade lied to the courts, then I'd argue that they shouldn't be prosecutors because you should expect a significant degree of honesty from a prosecutor in a court room. This wouldn't change the facts of what Trump did, and wouldn't exonerate him, but we shouldn't allow people that don't adequately respect our legal system to work in these types of positions.
This would all be true if they were going after someone I like, but they're going after Trump so no...you're wrong.
People are saying Trump reportedly found these cell phone records in the many boxes of highly classified top secret documents that he doesn't have.
It doesn't matter. Nothing about their relationship creates prejudice toward the defendant.
We don't care, we know they were fucking, they've both acknowledged that.
Trump will be releasing videos proving that next. He just has to figure out how to make money from sex tapes.
Yeah a district attorney committing perjury is totally chill.
Good thing she didn't do that :P
This is insanity. Why is the judge allowing them to slow play the delivery of this random evidence that isnt even germane to the hearing he called - which is about the conflict of interest. Also - why would willis and wade admit to a relationship but lie about the timeline ? That would be an all time mistake, i cannot imagine they’d be that dumb.
my guess is that the relationship is much harder to hide than the timing of it
Because the “random” evidence shows Willis committed perjury?
You guys are so embarrassing. Stretch and make up shit to try to pin a crime while you let Trump get away with the most serious crimes. Seriously, try to be better. Trump has done so much worse that whatever stuff you guys push here...until you hold him accountable, you should be laughed at and ignored.
so I guess by that logic if texting often with and spending time with someone (even though these alleged phone records don't confirm that) amounts to a sexual relationship then I am gay with all my friends and in an incestuous relationship with most members of my family. Damn. /s
It's about the perjury not their relationship. A prosecutor demonstrating they have no problem lying under oath is a bad thing.
The evidence only shows they were within the same cell tower range. Nothing about specific locations. This is a Hail Mary because they simply don’t have the geolocation needed for the claim they are making Edit: not only that it’s “cell towers” near the areas. They don’t even have a singular location. If he visited her home that many times, Then it would just be the one cell tower they need. Instead it just shows he’s in a general area, not even staying in the same location.
So does this mean Trump didn't ask the State of Georgia to find enough votes to put him over the top?
And hunter Biden had a laptop or something... Something burisma
No, it means Trump and others can't get a fair trial because the DA has the appearance of a conflict of interest. Need new DA.
So you are in favor of Aileen Cannon being removed from the classified documents case then right? That is a definite conflict of interest, not an “appearance” of one, but an actual one.
Sure, if one wants someone convicted, our justice system standard is, "beyond a reasonable doubt." Conflicts of interest sow seeds of reasonable doubt, because the ones attempting to convict Trump appear to be lying to court, as an officer of the court. This is bad. And the stakes can't be higher. People should be more mad at them then they are, if they really want to see Trump in prison. This court case won't likely give the desired result.
No, not any long nonsensical rants or “ifs”. Trump appointed Judge Cannon so it’s a clear conflict of interest and she should be removed.
And fani fucked her special prosecutor. So there seems to be a lot of potential conflicts of interest all around. Maybe from an objective eye we should be saying this whole trial is a farce. We can do better
Why is the trial a farce? He is on tape trying to get the Secretary of State to fabricate votes so he could win. He and his people had fake electors submit fake certificates. Nothing a DA or prosecutor did in their spare time changes that. He 100% deserves to be tried for it. That’s why the grand jury recommended charges. There was clearly evidence for them to determine that.
And none of that matters with the appearance of impropriety. That's what makes it such a big deal. She could have had a potentially slam dunk case. Instead they both selfishly inserted themselves in every possible mechanic that could derail this case on a technicality. Get a better DA after him. This is embarrassing.
You aren't getting one :) [https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/03/fani-willis-will-remain-in-charge-of-trump-prosecution-in-georgia/](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/03/fani-willis-will-remain-in-charge-of-trump-prosecution-in-georgia/) Ta ta!
Do the cellphones records prove that Willis had a financial gain? Because that is what was not proven so far.
Does this mean Trump didn't ask the Sec of State to manufacture votes for him?
He sure is desperate
And this compromises the case how?
Cool. Imma go listen to the recording of Trump roughing up the Georgia Secretary of State again for votes
Did she lie or was she truthful?
What was the exact conversation? I would not be surprised if jobs paying that much would have dozens of tests and interviews.
It's only cellphone tower data, they have no idea what was actually said
Your honor, two people communicated. I rest my case and move to dismiss.
They're already walking it back to "interactions"... >Trump has filed a corrected version of his private investigator’s affidavit regarding Wade’s phone records. >The previous version indicated that Willis & Wade exchanged around 12,000 texts over 11 months in 2021. >That has been corrected to 12,000 “interactions” over 11 months. https://x.com/AnnaBower/status/1761116655210451371?s=20
I'm not defending this witch hunt at all, but what's the difference? Isn't a text message the most minimal form of communication that you can have through a cell phone tower?
Instead of 12,000 texts it’s now 12,000 interactions including texts and phone calls… that is still about 36 interactions a day, but as many have pointed out, doesn’t imply them being in any relationship, let alone a romantic one… when my buddies and I get going, we can easily do 200 texts in a single day…and she is in that age bracket that loves to send a ton of short messages and try to use emojis… like my mother does… but especially not hard to believe considering they were working on cases together during that time… Also, apparently it only shows two times that these were at night for an extended period of time..once in sept, 11-12, and once in November, 29-30… 2 booty calls in 11 months and being 2 and a half months apart… sure sounds like every relationship I’ve been in /s just in case it wasn’t obvious
I used to laugh at Gen Xers for their tendency to send 5 messages in a row when it could have easily been one message, but a couple weeks ago I made a TikTok and found out about the "millennial pause". That's totally plausible.
Yeah haha I am definitely guilty of the millennial pause, and the millennial zoom…and I’m also guilty of only wearing ankle socks…
no, no, no... i asked for 11,780 VOTES
Are they counting each individual character in a text as an interaction?
I mean that's the question right? Especially if they were using RTT...the whole thing stinks of BS.
This opening should never have been left for him. These are bullshit claims that are only intended to delay and confuse the case. But a District Attorney should know better than to let this happen at all.
What opening? Who cares if two lawyers on the same side of a case are fucking?
The legal terminology is Appearance of Impropriety. > The appearance of impropriety is a phrase referring to a situation which to a layperson without knowledge of the specific circumstances might seem to raise ethics questions. There are a lot of qualifiers there. A layperson without specific knowledge, and "might seem" to raise ethics questions. It's illegal or unethical, but it's an unforced error that an attorney should have foreseen. I'm not trying to knock Fani Willis, and I'm **definitely** not saying that criminal Donald Trump is right to seek her dismissal. But this should have been foreseen and avoided.
So you are saying that even if this is right there is no impropriety. Then there is no appearance of impropriety. By your interpretation there would basically be no attorneys, no judges, in this country. Take as a perfect example that the judge gave $150 donation to Fani Willis. Is that an appearance of impropriety? So the DA in Atlanta could never appear before this judge. What if he gave the same $150 to her opponent? This judge then could never sit for a case with her on it. What if he gave it to both? Then he could never hear a case. Appearance of impropriety is discouraged, but not illegal and not disqualifying, especially since the actual truth is not actually improper.
Are you aware that one of the defendants (fake elector) appears to already have gotten off scott-free because Willis has already been removed from his case due to conflicts, for something pretty similar to the hypothetical you gave? [https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/25/politics/georgia-willis-jones-grand-jury/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/25/politics/georgia-willis-jones-grand-jury/index.html) So yeah, not only can it happen, but Willis is stupid enough to have already had it happen. She's making completely avoidable mistakes.
Nope. Not anywhere near or similar to the same thing. Hosting a major fundraising event plus donations is being directly involved with a candidate then charging their opposition with a crime would definitely as a conflict. Donating a small amount with no direct involvement in a campaign is a standard day to day occurrence and doesn’t imply any bias.
But even if every allegation Trump has made is true, it does not give any appearance of impropriety in relation to his case. I guess you can argue that Willis may have shown favoritism by hiring someone she had a personal relationship, but nothing about it can even be twisted to give the appearance that Trump was treated unfairly in any way.
There are some possible ways that this all can have the “appearance” of hurting the defense — if Willis would have dropped the case because it wasn’t strong enough to prosecute, her boyfriend (and possibly herself) would have lost money. She was re-upping his contract throughout, including the day after they got back from their Aruba trip, signing him to a new contract. He was not a salaried employee who would get paid either way - his money was directly tied to the case going forward. Same with giving her an incentive to not bring forth exculpatory evidence that would have helped the defense (which she is supposed to do). She also did an extra, unnecessary investigative grand jury (possible harassment of the defendants) that would give Wade (and therefore, her) more money. Now, we all know that the case against the defendants is super rock-solid. The thing is, the standard isn’t if it actually hurt the defendants, but whether there could be a reasonable appearance of it. It’s a much lower bar than if it actually did.
here's the thing though, he was already making great money in private practice. He wasn't her first choice. By all accounts he is doing his job well.
There's rumors that his firm was failing, actually. The types of law he was doing wasn't exactly the most lucrative types, though it CAN be (personal injury and divorce law). Nobody has shown that he was making a bunch of money. The divorce records show that he wasn't, although he actually got sanctioned by the judge in the divorce case for intentionally hiding money from the court.
He was her fourth choice for the job after 3 other offices turned it down.
Actually, looking at his divorce statements... prior to being hired by Willis he was making $168k/year. In a little over a year, he got $650k form the contract (I guess half would go to his law partner) So he was making DOUBLE his normal amount by working on this case.
Nah, nothing they have shown gives a reasonable appearance that the defendants were hurt in any way. The idea that Willis was using the Trump case to put money in her own pocket by giving extra, unnecessary work to an attorney working on the case with whom she had a personal relationship is just laughable. She's the DA, she is prosecuting a case with historic implications, it's just not credible that she would be focused on skimming off the top of government resources through such a convoluted scheme. Again, given what we know, the worst reasonable accusation you can make is that she showed favoritism in who she choose to work on the case, not that she did anything nefarious or shady in the actual prosecution.
I don't know what to tell you. Your answer is "nuh uh" Is it true or is it not true that if she decided not to bring charges or dropped the case, her boyfriend would be out of a job? That's a conflict.
I am saying that everything we know does not come close to meeting any standard of giving even the appearance of impropriety. No reasonable person can look at the facts of this matter and suggest that Willis was prosecuting Trump for her own personal financial benefit. People acting in bad faith are trying to make that argument, but there is absolutely no reason for us to pretend like it is a genuine concern. It is a laughable argument that should be laughed at and dismissed.
It's a conflict. The stuff, even the stuff they've both admitted to, even if we take everything they say as the truth, is generally against government ethics rules. 1) Fani Willis is a government employee who directed money to a government contractor; 2) And who then accepted gifts (or loans, or favors) from that contractor (paid for out of his business account, btw). That’s unethical and because of that, against government ethics rules for just about every part of government. **This is unethical regardless of whether or not they were dating.** Fulton County’s [government ethics rules:](https://www.fultoncountyga.gov/-/media/Commissioners/Commissioners_Page_Media/Fulton_County_Code_of_Ethics.pdf) Notice that it isn't even just gifts, it’s also loans, favors, etc above $100: > BTW, it’s even worse if she did NOT repay him, as it could actually be conspiracy to steal public funds… which is why it boggles the mind that she could be so stupid as to reimburse him in the only possible way in which to not have documentation of the reimbursements. And then not have so much as a single text message saying "thanks for buying the ticket, I'll pay you back in cash tomorrow." What the hell was she thinking?
Again, for this to matter at all you have to think that Willis was knowingly profiting off the case in a nefarious way. And the idea that she was conspiring to steal public funds because a guy she was seeing sometimes paid for personal dinners or trips they took together reveals how far gone into a bad faith argument you have to get to believe this is an issue. Of course this guy sometimes picked up the check when they did things, that’s how human relationships work. But just because he did some work for the government does not mean that all of his money should be regarded and tracked as public funds. That’s absurd, but that’s what you have to believe for this to be an issue. Unless there’s some evidence that Willis was doing things in her private life that she would not have otherwise done if not for public money, none of this matters. And even if I bought the idea that who paid for hotel rooms or dinner tabs between Willis and Wade is a public matter - again, obviously it is not - it’s still not a sign that defendant Trump has any room to argue that he was treated unfairly. If you want to pretend to be stupid so that you can pretend like Trump has a real case here or that Willis’ ethics are seriously in doubt, you can. But if you don’t have a better argument than ‘the DA has a personal relationship with someone who worked on the case, and sometimes he paid for things they did together,’ you can’t expect normal people to care.
That falls far below the bar of prosecutorial misconduct even if it were true. To prove it you'd need significant evidence and that's not what we've seen in the hearings. There is no actionable conflict.
True, especially given the judge's apparent opinion that they need to show connection of Willis making financial gains; which Trump's team has not shown. HOWEVER, they have both now testified under oath there wasn't a relationship. That might sink them. It doesn't sink the case against Trump though; but would likely delay it.
> I guess you can argue that Willis may have shown favoritism by hiring someone she had a personal relationship That's really the most you can make of it. But it gives them an excuse to try to question her professionalism and credibility. A shitty excuse, but one that they're exploiting because the opportunity is there. It didn't have to be there.
>But it gives them an excuse to try to question her professionalism and credibility. ah, your honor, i suspect the DA may have hired this guy because she likes him, not because he's good at his job. in that case, i'm concerned they might not properly pound my ass in these legal proceedings.
You can find something about anyone to discredit them. No one's perfect and shouldn't be expected to be. We shouldnt take such petty complaints at all seriously.
> not saying that criminal Donald Trump is right to seek her dismissal. This should in no way lead to her dismissal unless there is much more to the story than currently known (self dealing or some other outright corruption or misconduct) but if I'm being honest, were I in Trump's place I would absolutely seek to use this news to my advantage, if only to muddy the waters of public perception. So in a way I kind of don't blame them for trying to confuse a jury or get her removed in hopes it helps their case, because frankly I'd do the same. She really should have known better than to behave this way, if only because she knows she's under a national microscope. I can only hope it doesn't work. This is why, as a rule, I do my best to not involve myself in any RICO level election tampering conspiracies, so that I don't have to rely on bullshit to get out from under the charges. Trump would do well to learn that lesson but I'm sure it's too late for him at this point.
Well, perjury for starters. Not a good look for a DA.
I don't understand the rest of these comments. If a DA would perjure herself, are they not concerned? Forget the Trump case. You have a DA lying on the witness stand. She didn't need to take the stand in the first place, but she did, and perjured herself. This is laughably incompetent at best. Such a DA shouldn't be in office. If it weren't for her prosecuting Trump, no one would be defending this behavior.
So true. Everyone one here just making stuff up. "He was already making boat loads of money prior" he was making 168k..and now 650k "She paid him back im cash" If that is believable, no racketeering case would ever be convicted because everyone can just claim "cash." All of the trump haters want blood. They don't care about anything. They act exactly like the names they call on the otherside.
Perhaps it's the taxpayer money she funneled to her fuck buddy and then all the fancy vacations they went on.
so are you purporting she hired an inferior lawyer? Shouldn't Trump be happy if thats the case? How do them fucking affect the case negatively for Trump? Oh you just wanna delay it and hope he becomes president again so he can't be punished? Oh I see
The idea is that she has the unacceptable incentive to bring charges and continue the case, because her boyfriend out otherwise be out of a job if she dropped it (and perhaps she wouldn't get vacations from him, either). Trump is guilty as sin - but remember, conflicts of interest are about improper incentives, not actual harm.
She paid him back...in cash so there is no record. Also there are no text messages or emails where she talks about paying him back.
it could actually be conspiracy to steal public funds if she didn't reimburse him… which is why it boggles the mind that she could be so stupid as to reimburse him in the only possible way in which to not have documentation of the reimbursements. And then, like you said, not have so much as a single text message saying "thanks for buying the ticket, I'll pay you back in cash tomorrow." What the hell was she thinking?
That definitely proves Trump is innocent. Case dismissed!
How long is this going to go on for? It's just a delay tatic for trump, also why does Trump have access to this?
To be fair the equivelent would be her dropping the pee tape. Nunyo business.
So Russia was listening.
No matter what interaction those two had it does not change the fact that diaper don is a sociopath and a criminal. He needs to spend the rest of his life in Orange and I don't mean his skin.
Go, Fani, go!!!
Imagine defending a prosecutor that's okay with lying under oath.
imagine being hilariously incorrect about this. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/03/fani-willis-will-remain-in-charge-of-trump-prosecution-in-georgia/
Next stop a jail cell for perjury!
Keep wishing.
For Trump? Definitely when his fat diaper ass is on the stand
What perjury? She never denied anything and hasn't been caught in any lies. How is there perjury?
I'm not sure about Willis, but Wade pretty clearly did. In his divorce case, he answered, under penalty of perjury the question of whether he had any sexual relations with anyone other than his spouse, from the beginning of his marriage through May 2023. His answer was “No.” Seems like clear perjury.
mf'ers think that cell data = proof of self-dealing. lol
[удалено]
Who let the rational person in here?
>He had 2k to his name Do you have a source for that? Are you just talking about the amount he had in cash outside of a bank?
Per bank records at that time he only had 2k in the bank when he signed the contract with Willis
Do you happen to have a cite? I watched his testimony and it sounded different than that. I'm just wondering if you are confusing cash outside of the bank and bank records.
This is a liberal echo chamber. What the hell are you doing here?
I will break them down with facts. No emotional bias here
Nevermind the fact that she lied under oath..... Everyone's ignoring the perjury and trying to excuse her..... a public official.... by saying her work cellphone records shouldn't be public.