Judge OKs hearing to examine relationship of Trump prosecutors

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://www.ajc.com/politics/judge-okays-hearing-to-examine-relationship-
of-trump-prosecutors/HQVE7IBIKBEP5KYP3EDQ74J7PM/

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Monday cleared the way
for an evidentiary hearing later in the week that will probe whether
District Attorney Fani Willis improperly benefitted from her relationship
with the top prosecutor in her election interference case.

McAfee turned back a request from the Fulton DA’s office to cancel the
hearing and to kill subpoenas seeking testimony from Willis and eight
others in her office, including special prosecutor Nathan Wade, her
executive assistant and investigators involved in her security detail.

The extraordinary developments were sparked by a motion from defendant
Mike Roman to disqualify Willis and her office from the case. One sign of
how seriously the judge is taking the issue: he has set aside Thursday and
Friday for testimony and arguments.

“Because I think it’s possible that the facts alleged by the defendant
could result in disqualification, I think an evidentiary hearing must
occur to establish the record on those core allegations,” McAfee said.

When did the relationship start?

The judge said he would allow Roman’s attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, to
question Terrence Bradley, Wade’s former law partner who had represented
him in his divorce case. Merchant believes that Bradley can speak to when
Willis and Wade’s relationship began.

In a recent court filing, Merchant raised questions about the accuracy of
statements Wade made in an affidavit, in particular his claim that he did
not begin a personal relationship with Willis until after he was hired by
her in late 2021. (During Monday’s hearing, special prosecutor Anna Cross
said the facts Wade swore to in his affidavit are “100 percent true.”)

McAfee said he would defer a decision on whether to honor or quash the
subpoenas for the DA and other witnesses until after Bradley testifies. It
is generally rare for prosecutors to be forced to answer questions under
oath.

McAfee said the evidentiary hearing needs to establish “whether a
relationship existed, whether that relationship was romantic or non-
romantic in nature, when it formed and whether it continues.”

”And that’s only relevant because it’s in combination with the question of
the existence and extent of any personal benefit conveyed as a result of
their relationship,” he said.

Roman has accused Willis and Wade of unjustly “enriching themselves” from
the case, pointing to personal trips Wade covered for the two of them
using money he earned from his work for the Fulton DA’s office. Roman’s
legal filings have prompted the two to acknowledge being in a “personal
relationship,” though the DA’s office said in a court filing they have
done nothing wrong.

In addition to removing Willis and her office from the case, Roman is
asking McAfee to drop the criminal charges a grand jury handed up against
him in August. Five other codefendants have signed onto the effort,
including former President Donald Trump and his onetime personal lawyer,
Rudy Giuliani.

‘The defense is bringing you gossip’

At Monday’s hearing, attorneys representing people subpoenaed by Merchant
accused her of going on a “fishing expedition” and improperly using
subpoenas to try and dig up dirt that isn’t relevant to the underlying
election subversion crimes of which her client is accused.

In his first public comments about the accusations since they first arose
in early January, McAfee said he would not spend time at the hearing
discussing Wade’s credentials — or alleged lack thereof.

He indicated he would keep the Thursday hearing focused on whether Willis
had any conflicts. It now appears Bradley will be a star witness — the
other potential witnesses are being put on hold for now, contingent on
what Bradley says.

Merchant said Bradley would testify that numerous individuals in the DA’s
office have personal knowledge of the romantic relationship between Willis
and Wade. That includes when it began, whether they “cohabitated” and
where they traveled together, she said.

Cross disputed that. She said none of the people Merchant subpoenaed have
such knowledge.

Explore
Timeline of allegations against Fulton DA Fani Willis
“The defense is not bringing you facts. The defense is not bringing you
law. The defense is bringing you gossip,” Cross said. “And the state
cannot and the court should not condone that practice.”

Cross also disputed some of Merchant’s specific claims, including the
suggestion that Wade lived with Willis until her father moved in with her.
Cross said Willis’ father, John Clifford Floyd III, moved in with her
before she even met Wade – and he has a change in driver’s license to
prove it. Cross said Willis’ father never saw Wade there — and that the
DA’s office plans to call him as a witness later this week to speak to
that.

“If there’s a hearing, the state will establish, unequivocally, there was
no cohabitation,” Cross said. “They never lived together.”

Subpoenas on hold

Cross, along with attorneys representing others who had been subpoenaed,
argued that none of their clients had knowledge of information Merchant is
seeking.

McAfee had Merchant go through her list of subpoenas person-by-person to
explain the sort of facts she was hoping each would confirm. Cross said
Merchant on several occasions was mistaken about the information some
would-be witnesses might be privy to.

She mentioned Robin Bryant Yeartie, a longtime friend of Willis’ who
worked for a time in the Fulton DA’s office and briefly lived with the DA.
Merchant said that part of Yeartie’s job was to oversee Willis’ schedule;
Cross said was not the case.

But as he did with other members of the DA’s office, McAfee opted to wait
on ruling about Yeartie’s subpoena.

‘Personal or direct knowledge’

McAfee also withheld judgement on whether he would compel testimony from
Gabe Banks, an outside attorney who turned down an offer to lead the
prosecution before Wade accepted the job.

On Monday Banks told McAfee he had no “personal or direct knowledge” of a
romantic relationship between Willis and Wade. But he later acknowledged
he had called Bradley – a friend and fraternity brother – about the
possibility of Bradley testifying about Wade. He said he was concerned
Bradley — who he said served as Wade’s lawyer as early as 2015 — might be
“emotional” and violating attorney-client privilege.

“I was concerned personally as my fraternity brother and as another member
of the bar that he might arguably be running afoul of the attorney-client
privilege,” Banks said. “And so I did have a conversation with him about
that and expressed my concern.

Explore
Ethics experts back up Fulton DA in Trump conflict-of-interest dispute

And if that was a way to intimidate, if that’s what he’s suggesting, I
mean I would take issue with that,” he said. “In fact, we laughed and he
said we should get together for a drink afterward.”

McAfee on Monday did opt to kill one of Merchant’s subpoenas: to Synovus
Bank, where Wade’s law firm banks. Merchant was interested in the records
since she said that is the account from where Wade paid for trips with
Willis.

The judge agreed with an attorney for Wade who argued that Merchant’s
request is overly broad — with no limits or date or scope of what they are
seeking — and irrelevant.


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We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.

No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.