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Does anyone believe that the appellate court would reach the same conclusion for a poor, Black man facing the death penalty?
I'm going to have to go against the grain here. This should have been expected, and should have been the result from the start.
Fani Willis' personal life is her own business. But when you are dealing with a case this important against this defendant, you dot every I and cross every T. You leave nothing to chance, and you don't give off even a whiff of impropriety. She did not, and both of them ended up tainting the case trying to cover up their affair. Go back and watch Nathan Wade's testimony. The man constantly has a look on his face and gave carefully crafted testimony coming from someone who knew they were caught with their arm elbow-deep in the cookie jar. She should have recused herself from the case and handed it over to a colleague as soon as word of the affair became public. Her own hubris wouldn't allow her to do that, and she tanked the case as a result. She should consider herself lucky that the only thing that happened was some public embarrassment and her being forcibly removed from this case, because her conduct would absolutely warrant disbarrment. She gets a lot of sympathy because the defendant is Trump, but if it were anybody else, people would rightly be calling for her head.
This case wasn't brought down by a corrupt judge looking to advance her own career by ruling in Trump's favor. It wasn't brought down by a Supreme Court looking to anoint a king. It was brought down by two people who couldn't keep their pants on and did not take the position they were in seriously at all.
And with all of that said, it doesn't matter anyway as there was no way the case was going to go forward against a sitting President. But there is at least a non-zero chance (slim, admittedly, but still non-zero) that this case would have proceeded before the election if they hadn't been delayed for months investigating Fani Willis' and Nathan Wade's conduct.
This isn't a failure of the justice system. This is proof that at least some parts of the justice system are still working as intended, even if the beneficiary is Trump. If you want to blame someone for tanking this case, blame the two people who decided that having an affair while prosecuting the most powerful person in the country in the most important case in the country's history and using money earmarked to fund said prosecution to cover up the affair was a good idea. If the defendant were literally anybody else, people would be rightly demanding her disbarrment.
She should have recused herself from the case and handed it over to a colleague as soon as word of the affair became public.
What she should have done is not hire her boyfriend for a high-profile special prosecutor role, or not start dating her high-profile employee, depending on which timeline is accurate. She put one of the most important criminal prosecutions in the history of the country at risk for the sake of her personal life.
Oh absolutely agreed. Best thing she could have done is not bring him on at all. Second best thing she could have done was to recuse herself once it became public. But instead, she doubled down on the stupid and tanked the case, her career, and his career in the process, while tainting every other case in the court of public opinion by association.
This is an example of "Fuck around and find out", taken in both the most literal and extreme way possible.
Unless there's something in the laws of GA or Fulton County this doesn't add up. So at worst it's favoritism. Who does that harm? The defendant? Probably not and if anything it could make the prosecution less effective if Willis and Wade spent too much time rekindling their romance or fighting over passed mistakes. Does it harm the taxpayers and citizens of Fulton? Maybe. Investigate! If she skipped over viable alternatives or declined better attorneys because of her relationship then remove Wade and reprimand Willis. If this was a clear violation of her duties she would've been gone months ago. This is all about "inappropriate behavior" and if nobody can point to the affect this behavior has had on the case then their basically punishing her for the affair.
This is all about “inappropriate behavior” and if nobody can point to the affect this behavior has had on the case then their basically punishing her for the affair.
Some of the money used to fund the prosecution was used on travel expenses and hotel rooms for the purposes of helping to cover up the affair. There are numerous criminal acts in that alone and it amazes me that she hasn't faced sanctions or charges for them. This opens the door to the theory that the prosecution of Trump wasn't entirely based on the evidence in the investigation but was at least partially more of a way to fund their affair at his expense.
And yes, maybe some of it is her being punished for having an affair. But given all of the circumstances surrounding this particular affair, punishment was absolutely warranted. Their actions gave off far more than the appearance of impropriety, and absolutely tainted the entire case. She absolutely should have been sanctioned if not disbarred, and that doesn't change just because the defendant happens to be Trump.
Does it harm the taxpayers and citizens of Fulton? Maybe.
That alone would be enough of a reason to have her removed. Appearance of impropriety and all that. She should have recused herself and had the case reassigned the minute word of the affair became public. Her staying in is what continued to taint the case.
Some of the money used to fund the prosecution was used on travel expenses and hotel rooms for the purposes of helping to cover up the affair.
If any of this is illegal under state or County law by all means give her the boot. That doesn't seem to be what anyone is saying though. "Conflict of interest" and "impropriety" are seemingly the worst she's guilty of.
It only takes a few simple questions. Did she fail to meet specific criteria when she hired Wade as special prosecutor? Was she required to disclose prior conflicts of interest or ones that formed during the course of the indictment? Did Wade make unauthorized purchases with the fees he was paid? Were the rights of the defendant violated? Is there any evidence their relationship has diminished their efficacy in prosecuting this case? If none of these answers are "yes" then it's 100% about optics. If any of these are a "yes" then this should've been settled months ago.
We're really speedrunning this whole autocracy thing, aren't we?
"The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater." - Frank Zappa
Judges Trenton Brown, Todd Markle and Benjamin A. Land — the three judge panel appointed to review the case... “While we recognize that an appearance of impropriety generally is not enough to support disqualification, this is the rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings,” the order read.
I dunno about you, but I do not feel like Trenton Brown, Todd Markle, or Benjamin Land have restored any confidence in the integrity of these proceedings.
I'm sure they restored the confidence of Trump though which I'm sure is what matters to them.
If the decision is not overturned, a state agency that advises Georgia prosecutors would be tasked with finding a prosecutor unaffiliated with Fulton County to take on the matter — a move that many believe would ultimately lead to the case being dismissed
ahh yes, a loophole that many poor defendants abuse
/s
This ought to boost people's confidence in the judicial system.