By Evaristo Lara
Mar 15, 2024, 10:50 AM EDT
Scott McAfee, Judge of the Superior Court of Georgia, supports the continuity of Fani Willis as special prosecutor in the case brought against former President Donald Trump and 14 co-defendants for alleged election interference in Georgia, in 2020, but only if he dismisses Nathan Wade, whom he asked to hire as a special prosecutor knowing that the two were in a romantic relationship.
After several hearings where the testimonies of both Fani Willis and Nathan Wade were heard defending their romance, which they claimed arose after working together on the case against the former president of the nation, Judge McAfee determined that it is best to continue with the work of the Fulton County prosecutor, but without the presence of her lover, whose hiring he described as a mistake.
“This finding is in no way an indication that the Court tolerates this tremendous error in judgment or the unprofessional manner of the district attorney’s testimony during the evidentiary hearing.
“Georgia law does not allow finding an actual conflict simply for making bad decisions, even repeatedly,” he said.
The trigger that brought to light the romantic relationship between prosecutors Willis and Wade was the complaint filed by Mike Roman, co-defendant in the case against Donald Trump. about a conflict of interest arising from this.
It was even mentioned that part of Nathan Wade’s salary was used to cover the costs of his girlfriend’s expensive trips.
However, Judge McAfee maintains that, despite not presenting records about the payments she claims to have made to Wade as reimbursements for the vacations they both enjoyed, this had been demonstrated through other evidence.
“This refund practice may be unusual and the lack of documentary corroboration is understandably concerning. However, the testimony withstood direct contradiction and was corroborated by other evidence,” he stated.
Finally, The magistrate emphasized that it was not possible to prove that Wade was only hired to work on the case against Donald Trump for having an affair with Fani Willis.
“The evidence demonstrated that the financial gain derived from his relationship with Wade was not a motivating factor on the part of the prosecution,” he concluded.
Willis dedicated three years to the investigation into the alleged crimes committed by Donald Trump and his collaborators during the presidential elections held in Georgia in 2020, and thanks to them, 19 accusations were made against the 77-year-old Republican.
Keep reading:
* Judge dismisses six charges against Trump in Georgia election interference case
* The prosecutor in the Trump case defends the legitimacy of a courtship that could disqualify her
* Trump criticizes prosecutor Willis for her affair with the lawyer she added to her team to investigate him