Misconduct allegations cast new light on Georgia DA's fraught negotiations with Brian Kemp

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/misconduct-allegations-cast-new-
light-on-georgia-da-s-fraught-negotiations-with-brian-kemp/ar-
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Georgia prosecutors pursuing a case against Donald Trump spent more than a
year trying to interview a crucial but politically sensitive witness: Gov.
Brian Kemp.

After lengthy, delicate talks between Fulton County District Attorney Fani
Willis’ team and Kemp’s lawyers, the two sides seemed to be inching toward
a deal that would allow the governor to answer questions under oath, with
some limitations.

Then Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor hired by Willis, jumped in and the
talks collapsed into acrimony. Kemp’s lawyer immediately bristled at what
he described as a “dramatic change of tone and sudden threat,” which
prompted Willis herself to respond sharply in defense of Wade, one of her
top lieutenants.
Wade and Willis are newly under scrutiny after a Trump co-defendant
accused them of having an inappropriate personal relationship and taking
expensive vacations funded with money that Wade was paid from Willis’
office. The defendant, Mike Roman, is seeking to have Wade and Willis
thrown off the case.

Meanwhile, Wade’s role in Willis’ prosecution has raised eyebrows amid a
closer look at the special prosecutor’s thin resume in complex criminal
cases. And the allegations of misconduct, while unsubstantiated, have cast
an unflattering light on one of the most historic and significant
prosecutions in American history.

Willis has said she will respond to the allegations in court filings, and
on Thursday, Judge Scott McAfee of Fulton County Superior Court ordered
her to do just that. At the same time, Willis is fighting a subpoena from
Wade’s wife in Wade’s ongoing divorce case.

Wade had little experience prosecuting criminal cases before he joined
Willis’ team as a contract attorney in November 2021. Since then, he has
appeared in court on Willis’ behalf frequently to argue the office’s
position.

He was also at the center of a major flashpoint early in the office’s
investigation of Trump and his allies: the fraught negotiations to secure
testimony from Kemp, the Republican governor who was a target of Trump’s
pressure campaign to subvert the 2020 election.

Emails filed in court in 2022 reveal Wade fluctuating between sharp-
elbowed negotiations and flowery prose that exuded over-the-top formality.

After a particularly tense July 22, 2022, exchange, Kemp’s lawyer emailed
Wade and Willis to “apologize if my advocacy in protecting the Governor’s
legal interests came across as even the slightest bit discourteous.” In
response, Wade said he had cc’ed the note to the entire investigative
team.

“Kind sir,” Wade began. “Thank you for your email wherein you apologize
for your behavior, I’m certain it was uncharacteristic of your true self.
I have taken the liberty of adding the rest of the investigative team back
to this email chain, as they deserve to benefit from your heartfelt
apology equally.”

He added that he had been instructed by “Madam DA Willis to reach out and
address your concerns.”

But the emails show that months of fragile talks between Kemp’s attorney
and Willis’ team fell apart after Wade abruptly joined the negotiations.
In a June 13, 2022, email to Fulton County prosecutors, Kemp’s lawyer
Brian McEvoy described a call he received that day from Wade — his first
ever with the special prosecutor — categorically rejecting efforts to
convene a “proffer” session for attorneys to hash out the limits of Kemp’s
potential testimony.

“Needless to say. Mr. Wade’s summary rejection of our proposed dates,
nullification of all previous agreements, dramatic change of tone and
sudden threat regarding the issuance of a grand jury subpoena this week is
disappointing, surprising and contrary to previous discussions with your
office,” McEvoy wrote.

A month later, as Kemp’s planned July 25 interview approached, McEvoy
reached out in frustration, saying he had not heard back from the
prosecutors and lobbing some pointed words of his own.

In a July 20 email to Wade — copied to other prosecutors on Willis’ team —
McEvoy slammed the case as “politically motivated” and urged the
investigators to agree to strict conditions, including a “protective
order” prohibiting leaks of Kemp’s testimony, providing questions and
topics in advance, and agreeing not to take audio or video recordings of
the interview.

McEvoy complained that Willis’ team had previously agreed to discuss those
conditions during the proffer session, but that Wade had “unilaterally and
inexplicably canceled” that session and “voided all of our previous
agreements.”

Thirteen minutes later, Wade responded, scolding McEvoy for a
“condescending and confrontational tone” and accusing Kemp’s lawyer of
“mischaracterizing” conversations with Fulton County investigators.

“You have done this on several occasions and we have elected to ignore
your assertions,” Wade wrote.

Two hours later, Willis piled on.

“My special counsel,” Willis said referring to Wade, “in an effort to be a
gentleman and an officer of the court has been far too polite. The email
you have sent is offensive and beneath an officer of the court. You are
both wrong and confused.”

Willis defended her investigation, rejecting claims that it was
politically motivated, denying that her special purpose grand jury had
leaked any testimony and blaming the protracted negotiations with Kemp on
the governor himself.

Willis went on to say that she had “bent over backwards to accommodate”
Kemp, in part because she admired his wife’s advocacy for human
trafficking victims. And she forcefully defended Wade and her team from
criticism.

“As we move forward with this process and seek justice and truth for the
citizens of the State of Georgia, I am going to demand that you treat my
staff with the same level of respect they have shown you,” Willis said,
adding, “However, l as the District Attorney of the largest county in
Georgia have no intention on allowing you to abuse public servants that
serve honorably.”

After the private sniping spilled into public view on the court docket,
Fulton County District Court Judge Robert McBurney — who presided over
Willis’ special grand jury proceedings — ultimately ordered Kemp to
testify in the probe. But he also chided Willis for attempting to force
Kemp’s testimony in advance of the rapidly approaching 2022 midterm
election, when Kemp was on the ballot.

“The Governor is in the midst of a re-election campaign and this criminal
grand jury investigation should not be used by the District Attorney, the
Governor’s opponent, or the Governor himself to influence the outcome of
that election,” McBurney wrote in a six-page order.

It was the second time McBurney had warned Willis about injecting politics
into her probe. A month earlier, McBurney disqualified Willis from
building a case against one of the state’s 16 false Trump electors — then-
state Sen. Burt Jones — after learning that Willis had promoted a
fundraiser for a Democratic candidate preparing to run against Jones in
the 2022 lieutenant governor’s race.


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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.