An extramarital affair between Georgia prosecutors is shaking the conspiracy case against Donald Trump. Last week, chief prosecutor Fani Willis admitted that she has a “personal relationship” with one of her subordinates: a married man whom she hired – according to critics without the right qualifications – from outside the Public Prosecution Service as part of the investigation into the former president. The criminal case against Trump and eighteen co-defendants revolves around their attempts to overturn the 2020 election results by putting pressure on Republican administrators and poll workers.
Willis, a Democrat who heads the Fulton County Prosecutor’s Office, said Friday that her affair with Nathan Wade began in 2022, when he was already working for her, and that there was never any “direct or indirect financial gain.” The affair came to light last month when the lawyer for a Trump co-defendant accused Willis of giving her “boyfriend” a lucrative job in 2021 and benefiting from it because he took her on romantic trips.
The latter was confirmed when the divorce file of Wade and his now ex-wife was made public. Both Willis and Wade should be removed from the case, according to the attorney for Michael Roman, a former Trump campaign aide.
Unique approach
Willis said in her statement that the allegations are “obscene” and “received the media attention they were intended to receive,” but “in no way” disqualify her as a prosecutor in the case. A judge must now decide whether Willis can continue the prosecution or that another prosecutor should take over. In the latter case, the case would at least be delayed, but it could also be tackled less ambitiously or even discontinued.
Willis’ approach is unique because she uses an anti-conspiracy law, more often used for mafia practices, to prosecute the suspects. Several suspects have already pleaded guilty and can testify against Trump in exchange for a reduced sentence. Their statements would be crucial to Trump’s punishment and to public knowledge of how he tried to undermine the election as president. Because the case is at the state level, Trump cannot pardon himself if he becomes president again.
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Delays elsewhere too
The Georgia prosecution is not the only one experiencing delays due to defense requests. In Washington, a judge decided last week that March 4 is no longer feasible as a start date for the federal case brought by special counsel Jack Smith. He is prosecuting Trump for his lies and actions that led to the storming of the Capitol by his supporters. But Trump argues that he has immunity for everything he did during his presidency. The Supreme Court will probably have to consider this before a new hearing date can be scheduled.
However, the delay in Washington clears the way for the criminal case that will be heard in New York in March about the use of campaign money to buy off a porn star with whom Trump had had an affair. This case involving Stormy Daniels is seen as the legally weakest of the four criminal cases against Trump, because the Public Prosecution Service must prove that the payment of hush money and the falsification of company documents was done with political motives and not to hide the affair from Melanie Trump.
Trump is being prosecuted in Florida for removing and withholding state secret documents. That case would be the easiest of the four to prove, as the documents were found at his Mar-a-Lago resort and his lawyers admitted that they warned Trump before he lied to the FBI about their whereabouts. But the fact that a jury in the state of Florida that is favorable to him is decisive also makes the outcome of this case, which should start in May, uncertain.
The chance that Donald could be convicted or acquitted for subverting the election before the November 5 elections is becoming increasingly unlikely.