Two weeks after several days of wild, revelatory testimony, Fulton County, Ga., Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee is set to rule on whether to disqualify Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants.
"Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said he would have a ruling within two weeks. And that two weeks wrap up Friday," reports WSB Radio. "McAfee will decide if Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified because of her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade."
As we've reported extensively here at PJ Media, McAfee is considering disqualifying Willis and her office over her hiring of Wade as special counsel, despite their romantic involvement. Willis has displayed other conflicts of interest throughout her prosecution of the former president.
McAfee has been busy considering aspects of the Trump case. On Wednesday, he dismissed some of the key charges against Trump and the other defendants, although he left the door open for the charges to come back pending further investigation.
Former metro Atlanta prosecutor Chris Timmons thinks that McAfee's ruling should come down the line on Friday. He also told WSB that McAfee's consideration is important because of how serious Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) laws are.
“RICO under Georgia law is about as serious as attempted murder. It carries similar penalties to not murder but attempted murder which is still very serious, one of the most serious crimes somebody could be charged with, with regards to the charges that were dropped those would be closer to what would be drug charges,” Timmons told WSB. “It gives the defense a chance to declare a victory on a battle, but I don’t think it’s going to change the course of the war.”
In other words, regardless of what one thinks about the guilt or innocence of the defendants, these charges are too important to trust to a prosecutor who is seeking attention and hiring her sneaky link to help her.
Sources on the defendants' legal teams have signaled that they're on to Willis and Wade's rhetoric and confusing testimony. Fox 5 reports that "One source puts it this way: 'The court is being played.'" Another source said, "The cover-up has gotten a lot worse than the actual crime."
Meanwhile, in another part of the city, Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) signed a law on Wednesday that reestablishes a commission to hold prosecutors accountable for following the law. It's the state's second try at such a commission; after some district attorneys challenged the law, a court struck it down.
“This legislation will help us ensure rogue and incompetent prosecutors are held accountable if they refuse to uphold the law,” Kemp said at the signing ceremony. “As we know all too well, crime has been on the rise across the country, and is especially prevalent in cities where prosecutors are giving criminals a free pass or failing to put them behind bars due to lack of professional conduct.”
While some claim that the law's second try is a direct response to Willis, GOP leaders in the state cite other cases, including a South Georgia prosecutor's office that tried to stonewall the investigation into and prosecution of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.
Jeff Amy of the Associated Press let his left-wing bias show when he wrote, "Georgia’s law is one of multiple attempts nationwide by Republicans to control prosecutors they don’t like. Republicans have inveighed against progressive prosecutors after some have brought fewer drug possession cases and sought shorter prison sentences, arguing Democrats are coddling criminals." But the truth is that no matter what McAfee decides in Willis' case, states should hold prosecutors accountable for doing their job.
via pjmedia