The RICO case filed by District Attorney Fani Willis against former President Donald Trump has led to potential consequences for the Fulton County judge overseeing the proceedings. Following her successful survival of the dismissal attempt, Judge Scott McAfee has cautioned Willis about the possibility of a gag order, which would restrict her from publicly discussing the case. This development has been reported by The Epoch Times.
The outlet added:
“Her speech came just days after allegations surfaced that she engaged in an improper relationship with special counsel Nathan Wade, whom she appointed to head the Trump election interference case in Georgia. During the speech, Ms. Willis invoked the “race card” without citing evidence of racial animus and criticized a Fulton County Commissioner “and so many others” for criticizing her decision to hire Mr. Wade.”
“In these public and televised comments, the District Attorney complained that a Fulton County Commissioner ‘and so many others’ questioned her decision to hire SADA Wade. When referring to her detractors throughout the speech, she frequently utilized the plural ‘they,’” McAfee wrote.
“The State argues the speech was not aimed at any of the Defendants in this case. Maybe so. But maybe not. Therein lies the danger of public comment by a prosecuting attorney,” his order noted further. “By including a reference to ‘so many others’ on the heels of Defendant Roman’s motion which instigated the entire controversy, the District Attorney left that question open for the public to consider.
“The Court cannot find that this speech crossed the line to the point where the Defendants have been denied the opportunity for a fundamentally fair trial, or that it requires the District Attorney’s disqualification,” he stated.
“But it was still legally improper. Providing this type of public comment creates dangerous waters for the District Attorney to wade further into,” McAfee wrote.
In the midst of it all, Julian Epstein, a Democratic lawyer, strongly criticized Willis for persistently staying involved in Trump’s election interference case.
In a conversation on “The Brian Kilmeade Show,” Epstein delved into the attempts made to remove Willis from the election interference case, affirming that the judge’s decision to grant the Trump team the opportunity to appeal was justified.
“Well, I think if Fani Willis had any real interest in this case, she would resign or recuse herself from it. This is an utter embarrassment. I mean, this looks to me like, in my opinion, this was a kickback scheme, where she hired a boyfriend who was then providing her all kinds of benefits,” Epstein said.
“I think the whole claim about, the reimbursements, is hard to believe. I think the claims about when the relationship began. I think those are very hard to believe. I think the judge was right to allow the Trump team to appeal. And, I think there’s not just that question about whether she should be kicked off the case. So I think there’s a question, potentially about perjury, moving forward that the state could take up and the legislature is going to look into. So I think there is, I mean, just, you know, the standard in Georgia is the major conflict or the apparent civil conflict,” Epstein added.
Epstein continued, “And given that there is a strong appearance that Barney Lewis had any economic incentive for the case to move forward, I don’t know how you argue this is not an unbelievable conflict. In any case, this is an utter embarrassment, for the, you know, amongst many other embarrassments for, the … crowd that is, you know, prosecuting Trump in the 11th hour of this campaign.”
