What Are Our BGOL Peeps in the ATL Saying/Thinking about Fanny Vs. Trump ???

[QueEx]

Fulton DA defends special prosecutor during church speech​

Fani Willis speaks publicly for first time since bombshell allegations
[IMG alt="Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis delivers remarks at Big Bethel AME Church during a special tribute honoring Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024.
Miguel Martinez /miguel.martinezjimenez@ajc.com"]https://www.ajc.com/resizer/qA9Lepf....com/ajc/SXQXLFCGX5EO7KL4BWL26FIL2A.jpg[/IMG]





Credit: Miguel Martinez
CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY
By Shaddi Abusaid
Updated 19 hours ago
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Sunday defended the special prosecutor overseeing the Donald Trump election interference case amid bombshell allegations the two are having an “improper” relationship.

Speaking publicly for the first time since last week’s court filing accused her of hiring a romantic partner to help prosecute the former president, Willis told the congregation at Big Bethel AME Church that attorney Nathan Wade is a legal “superstar” who is uniquely qualified for the role.

ExploreFiling alleges ‘improper’ relationship between Fulton DA, top Trump prosecutor
Without ever addressing him by name, Willis referred to Wade as “a great friend and a great lawyer” and said he is paid the same hourly rate as the other two special prosecutors hired to assist with the case. She did not deny or confirm that the two are romantically involved.

Caption

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Last week’s court filing, from defendant and former Trump campaign operative Michael Roman, alleges that Willis hired Wade after they became romantically involved and thatWade, a private attorney, paid for vacations he took with Willis using the Fulton County funds his law firm received for the work on the elections case.

The document did not include any concrete evidence but indicated that some relevant information was included in Wade’s sealed divorce proceedings. Roman’s attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, has said she’s trying to get those records unsealed.

County records show that Wade — who led prosecutors’ presentation to the special grand jury, signed off on subpoenas, interviewed key witnesses and negotiated immunity deals in the case — has been paid nearly $654,000 in legal fees since January 2022.

Critics of the Trump probe have seized on the news to question Willis’ judgment and frame the case as irreparably tainted.

Moments after Willis’ remarks in Atlanta, Trump was at a pre-caucus rally in Indianola, Iowa, saying the allegations against Willis and Wade are proof the case against him should be dropped.

”You saw Fani Willis gave her boyfriend a million bucks to go get Trump, right?” he said, exaggerating the amount the special prosecutor has been paid so far for his work on the case. “She’s been exposed, I can’t imagine they can continue on with that case.”

Emotional at times during her 35-minute speech, Willis read from a letter that she said she penned to God during a particularly trying week.

Caption
[IMG alt="DA of Fulton County Fani Willis speaks during Sunday's worship service at the Big Bethel AME Church in Atlanta.
Miguel Martinez /miguel.martinezjimenez@ajc.com"]https://www.ajc.com/resizer/2MY1Y4W....com/ajc/MVWVLGCLGRA3DMEKVV5EQ6UERM.jpg[/IMG]
Credit: Miguel Martinez

Standing in front of the choir during the historic Black church’s Martin Luther King Jr.-themed service, Willis noted that the other two special prosecutors on the Trump case, John Floyd and Anna Green Cross, are both white. She did not mention those two by name.

“They only attacked one,” Willis told the congregation.

ExploreFulton DA Fani Willis to speak at Atlanta’s oldest Black church on Sunday

“First thing they say, ‘Oh, she’s gonna play the race card now,” Willis said. “But no God, isn’t it them that’s playing the race card when they only question one? Isn’t it them playing the race card when they constantly think I need someone from some other jurisdiction in some other state to tell me how to do a job I’ve been doing almost 30 years?”

Floyd, a prominent expert on racketeering laws, on has been consulting with Willis’ office on the Trump and Young Slime Life RICO cases for almost three years. Cross, known for her experience arguing high-profile cases, including the Dunwoody day care and Jamil Al-Amin murder cases, has been deployed twice by Willis to argue during two key courtroom moments in the Trump case.

According to billing documents reviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Cross’ firm has been paid almost $43,000 for her work on the election interference case and Floyd’s has been paid $73,000 by the DA’s office.

Records obtained through an Open Records Act request and reviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution show that Cross was paid $250 an hour for her work and Floyd $150 or $200 an hour for his services. Wade has been paid $250 an hour for his services, records show.

Willis called Wade “a lawyer with impeccable credentials,” and tried to downplay some of the criticism hurled his way in recent days.
ExploreWho is Nathan Wade, Fulton special prosecutor in Trump case?

“The Black man I chose has been a judge more than 10 years, run a private practice more than 20, represented businesses in civil litigation — I ain’t done y’all,” the veteran prosecutor said, as some in the audience voiced their support. “Served as a prosecutor, a criminal defense lawyer, special assistant attorney general ...”
Willis mentioned an award Wade received from the State Bar of Georgia, telling the church, “You know they ain’t just giving this to Black men.”

She also alluded to work Wade previously did for former Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren.

“How come, God, the same Black man I hired was acceptable when a Republican in another county hired him and paid him twice the rate?” she asked to a smattering of cheers and applause. “Why is the white male Republican’s judgment good enough, but the Black female Democrats’ not?”

In 2020, Wade’s firm was retained by Warren to review complaints of use of force, racial biases, discrimination and neglect at the county jail after seven detainees had died in custody. Three months later, an Atlanta television station sued Warren, accusing him of manufacturing a fake investigation to circumvent open records laws. Wade defended his work. A judge later ordered the sheriff to release the records.
Merchant’s motion seeks to have the charges against Roman dismissed and for Willis, Wade and the entire DA’s office to be disqualified from further prosecution of Georgia’s election interference case.
“If anybody doubts our claim that Wade is inexperienced, ask him how many RICO cases he has handled,” Merchant said Sunday in a statement. “Ask him how many felonies he has tried. This has nothing to do with the color of his skin.
“The biggest difference between Ms. Cross, Mr. Floyd and Mr. Wade is that Ms. Willis is not in a relationship with Ms. Cross and Mr. Floyd,” Merchant continued. “We look forward to litigating these issues in court.”

Willis’ spokesman has said the DA will respond to Merchant’s allegations in an upcoming court filing, though it’s still unclear when that will be submitted.
Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the case, said Friday that he would schedule a hearing on the matter after Willis weighs in formally.
From the pulpit, Willis said she and her family are threatened so often, that it’s “not normal if I don’t have two death threats a week.”
“People call me the n-word more than they call me Fani,” she said, recounting a Christmas night “doxing” in which a man reportedly called 911 and said he’d just shot a woman at her address.
Caption
[IMG alt="DA of Fulton County Fani Willis speaks during Sunday's worship service at the Big Bethel AME Church in Atlanta.
Miguel Martinez /miguel.martinezjimenez@ajc.com"]https://www.ajc.com/resizer/tlIricQ....com/ajc/IVUZIG3DCTEW7HP3XARKAUOAZQ.jpg[/IMG]
Credit: Miguel Martinez

Willis also mentioned U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has been an outspoken critic of the district attorney and her efforts to prosecute the former president.
“Dear God, I do not want to be like those that attack me,” Willis said. “I never want to a Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has never met me, but has allowed her spirit to be filled with hate.”
Sporting a black dress she said she picked up at Ross Dress for Less for $30, Willis appeared to be in good spirits.
“I hope for y’all this week I don’t look like what I’ve been through,” she told the crowd.
AJC staff writers Bill Rankin, Tamar Hallerman and Patricia Murphy contributed to this article.

Caption
[IMG alt="Fulton County DA Fani Willis signals at the balcony moments before the worship service, where she was invited to speak on Sunday, January 14, 2024.
Miguel Martinez /miguel.martinezjimenez@ajc.com"]https://www.ajc.com/resizer/t08YjHH....com/ajc/SVAUSFCCN6EP4OREOY2M44SZYU.JPG[/IMG]
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Caption
[IMG alt="Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis waits for the service to start Sunday at Big Bethel AME Church, where she was invited to speak.
Miguel Martinez /miguel.martinezjimenez@ajc.com"]https://www.ajc.com/resizer/Lp_9Isu....com/ajc/BBXYYJIEY5WLI4BAMHNHWDQTMU.jpg[/IMG]
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Caption
[IMG alt="The congregation of Big Bethel AME listens to Fulton County DA Fani Willis on Sunday, January 14, 2024.
Miguel Martinez /miguel.martinezjimenez@ajc.com"]https://www.ajc.com/resizer/iNxT8qk....com/ajc/M2RW5HHCN2UTQKVSXCJXM2YYV4.jpg[/IMG]
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Caption
[IMG alt="At the end of the worship service, Bishop Reginald T. Jackson (left) and Pastor John Foster say a prayer for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis at the Big Bethel AME church on Sunday, January 14, 2024.
Miguel Martinez /miguel.martinezjimenez@ajc.com"]https://www.ajc.com/resizer/CH-I8Ia....com/ajc/BSE5Y6O2KX7CU7GVQTW774IU7U.jpg[/IMG]
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Caption
[IMG alt="Fulton County DA Fani Willis speaks during a worship service at Big Bethel AME Church, where she was invited to speak Sunday.
Miguel Martinez /miguel.martinezjimenez@ajc.com"]https://www.ajc.com/resizer/AmHTNF8....com/ajc/MAYCE24QSYBGMBCICGBHUZS2AQ.jpg[/IMG]
Credit: Miguel Martinez

Caption
[IMG alt="Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis looks at the crowd during Sunday morning's service at Big Bethel AME Church, where she spoke.
Miguel Martinez /miguel.martinezjimenez@ajc.com"]https://www.ajc.com/resizer/92ZC6_S....com/ajc/PI7JWFHGMOFK2MPQ3JRVWGKE4I.jpg[/IMG]
Credit: Miguel Martinez
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About the Author

Shaddi Abusaid

 

[SPECTRE1]

Running into a burning building chasing after Trump, I wonder if there is a correlation between DEI and ESG attacks which will decrease opportunities in Corporate America and this nonsense. Let them win office and go after Trump, why are we getting involved in this mess. It is the proverbial false rape claim that allows an angry white mob to burn and kill us, when it was a race based crime.

If it was me, I would sit it out and let this Trump storm blow through. Now Fani took office before this election debacle took place, so she is just doing her job. However, I would be looking for every way to slow walk the case and not looking gleeful about it.

 

[SPECTRE1]

These prosecutor or Attorney General jobs we need to steer clear of them. The case against Trump at the State level has no white victims that you could use to show a lack of bias. The campaign violation also does not have a white victim or he is not showcasing that as part of his case.

The only time I would bring a case is if Trump had harmed other white victims and you are pursuing justice for them.

 

[bbuzzard]

not thinking about it at all, bot

 

[QueEx]

Politics

Fani Willis DEFENDS 'having an affair with colleague as they prosecuted Trump in election interference case' and claims attacks are 'racially motivated'​

By Stephen M. Lepore For Dailymail.Com,

Daily Mail

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis appeared to defend accusations of having an alleged secret lover co-prosecutor as they oversee the Georgia case against former President Donald Trump .

Willis was accused in a stunning court filing by one of Trump's co-defendants of having an affair with Nathan Wade, who was paid more than $600,000 as a special prosecutor assisting her office.

Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has filed a formal complaint of misconduct against Willis, while House Republicans have kicked off an investigation into Wade .

The former president pointed to the allegations Tuesday and said it meant the Georgia prosecutor was 'totally compromised' and that the racketeering case against Trump and 18 codefendants 'has to be dropped.'

In an impassioned 35-minute speech at the Big Bethel AME Church in Atlanta Sunday, she did not directly refer to - and did not deny - the accusations but suggested that criticism of her was racist and sexist.

'You cannot expect black women to be perfect and save the world. We need to be allowed to stumble,' she said.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en_US"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&quot;You cannot expect Black women to be perfect and save the world,&quot; Willis said. &quot;We need to be allowed to stumble. We need grace.&quot;<br><br>&quot;We are all flawed, sinners, unworthy, imperfect, damaged...But we are qualified upon His calling,&quot; she continued before concluding her remarks. <a href="https://t.co/B9NcE14BdV">pic.twitter.com/B9NcE14BdV</a></p>&mdash; Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) <a href="">January 14, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Without naming Wade, she clearly appeared to be referring to him in her speech, adding that this 'someone' had 'impeccable credentials' and years of expertise.

'They are going to be mad when I call them out on this nonsense,' Willis told the congregation. 'First thing they say, 'Oh, she's going to play the race card.' But … isn't it them playing the race card when they think I need someone in some other jurisdiction in some other state to tell me how to do a job I've been doing almost 30 years?'

Willis thanked leaders of the historically black church in Atlanta who 'didn´t care what they said about me' and told her 'the invite was still good' to speak.

'I hope for y'all this week I don´t look like what I've been through,' she said.

She repeatedly referred to herself as 'imperfect' and 'flawed,' noting that the only perfect person was Jesus.

'Today, what he has brought you is his very flawed, hardheaded and imperfect servant,' she said.

Willis said her father, who she said met and spent time with Dr. Martin Luther King, told her that he saw the civil rights leader at low moments, saddened because people were cruel and unsupportive.

Her father told her that King 'was not a perfect man, but he was a great man, willing to answer God's call.'

A lawyer representing Michael Roman made the bombshell allegations against Willis and Nathan Wade (pictured center) in a filing and asked that charges be dismissed

At a low point in the past week, she said, she 'penned a letter to my heavenly Father.'

She framed much of her speech at the church as a conversation with God, describing herself over and over again as flawed, imperfect and hard-headed.

'You did not tell me as a woman of color, it would not matter what I did. My motive, my talent, my ability and my character would be constantly attacked,' she said.

She appeared to choke up briefly at times and talked about the loneliness and stress of her job, saying she has come to think it is 'not normal if I don't have two death threats a week' and that she's regularly called racial slurs.

Willis revealed that on Christmas night, she got an emergency call saying police had surrounded her house because a man had called 911 saying he had shot a woman there.
She said she experienced 'pure, unimaginable fear,' believing her older daughter was dead in her home until the incident was revealed to be 'a cruel hoax.'

Willis said she hired three special prosecutors for the election case: a white man, a white woman and a Black man.

They are paid the same hourly rate and no one has questioned the qualifications of the two white lawyers, she said.

While never mentioning Wade by name, she called him a 'superstar, a great friend and a great lawyer.'

She cited his accomplishments and past professional experience and said, 'I'm just asking, God, is it that some will never see a Black man as qualified, no matter his achievements?'

The pair are accused of having traveled together to Napa Valley and the Caribbean Islands.

Trump blasted the bombshell revelations about an alleged 'romantic' relationship between Willis and Wade, a private lawyer serving on her team.

'She was out of her mind,' Trump fumed about Willis, who was already one of his regular targets during her grand jury probe and since his arrest last summer. 'Now it turns out that that case is totally compromised. In fact, they say she's in far more criminal liability than any of the people she's looking at,' he claimed.

'So, I think that when you look at what happened with, they pay a lawyer with absolutely no experience $700,000 who happens your lover or boyfriend and then they go on trips and vacations together very expensive vacations together. And the reason they paid him so much because he was after me,' he continued.

It comes after Willis was accused in a stunning court filing by one of Trump's co-defendants of having an affair with Nathan Wade, who was paid more than $600,000 as a special prosecutor assisting her office
He said legal analysts he spoke to told him the case had to be dropped, although it wasn't clear if he meant the case against former Trump campaign official Michael Roman, who raised it in the bombshell filing, or against Trump and other associates accused of conspiring to overturn the election results in the state.

'Very good people were very badly hurt by that case. It's a shame. Very good people. People that did nothing wrong. They did nothing different than what Democrats have been doing for years and years and years, whether it's slates or anything else that you're talking about. But they were very hurt. And it turns out that she profited tremendously in that case, it's illegal. What she did is illegal. So we'll let the state handle that but what a sad situation,' he said.

The bombshell allegations are included in a filing by Michael Roman, a former Trump campaign official who is accused of taking part in the 'fake electors' scheme as one of 18 people charged in the state along with Trump.
Trump's comments came as it was revealed through invoices that Roman had two past meetings with the Biden White House counsel's office.

He has made similar attacks against other prosecutors lining up against him in his four criminal trials and civil cases, calling Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was on hand at the appeals court Tuesday, 'deranged' and calling New York AG Letitia James a 'lunatic .'
Trump was also hyping the allegations in a fundraising pitch to his supporters.
' The Atlanta prosecutor behind my MUGSHOT has now been EXPOSED for 'impropriety' in the case,' according to the appeal.

The filing doesn't provide documentary proof of the allegations. It states that 'sources close to both the special prosecutor and the district attorney have confirmed they had an ongoing, personal relationship.'

Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) confers with lead prosecutors, Donald Wakeford (left) and Nathan Wade, during a hearing at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta on Friday, July 1, 2022


Wade had never previously handled a felony trial, according to the stunning new filing by Roman, one of the former president's co-defendants in the 'fake electors scheme.'
The committee noted federal funds may have been used to pay Wade, granting them jurisdiction to investigate. It highlighted the 'enormous legal fees' Wade had billed the DA's office for, in one instance, on November 5, 2021, charging for 24 hours of legal work in one day, claiming to have worked all day and night on the prosecution.

The court document released last Monday alleged that Willis and Wade had been in a romantic relationship that predates her hiring him on the case.

While not proven, Willis hiring her boyfriend despite him having little expertise to lead on the prosecution and both of them financially benefitting from the arrangement could prove to be a conflict of interest.

Roman is accused of taking part in the ‘fake electors’ scheme, and is one of 18 people charged in George alongside Trump.
The filing said Wade was not qualified to serve as a court-appointed defense lawyer in the Trump case because needs to have tried 'at least two criminal trials of similar offenses,' per a 2022 document from the Fulton County Superior Court.

Earlier this week DailyMail.com reported Wade had two meetings at the Biden White House ahead of her prosecution of Trump.
Among the documents reviewed by DailyMail.com, were Wade’s invoices to the DA. Shockingly, they including one bill for an ‘interview with DC/White House’ for eight hours on November 18 2022 and another for eight hours including ‘conference with White House Counsel’ on May 23 2022.

The legal papers also claim that Willis was having an ‘an ongoing, personal relationship’ with Wade – citing ‘sources close to both the special prosecutor and the district attorney’ but doesn't provide documentary proof,
Roman claims the pair were in a relationship before Willis hired Wade, and that they traveled together to Napa Valley, Florida , and even on a Caribbean cruise.

The Judiciary Committee opened an investigation into the Fulton County DA in August, probing whether she improperly used federal funds for her state-level prosecution or coordinated with Biden’s Justice Department.

Special prosecutor Nathan Wade leaves the office of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis at the Fulton County Government building on August 23, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. He is accused by a Trump co-defendant of having a personal relationship with Willis

Among the documents reviewed by DailyMail.com, were Wade¿s invoices to the DA. Shockingly, they including one bill for an ¿interview with DC /White House¿ for eight hours on November 18 2022 and another for eight hours including ¿conference with White House Counsel¿ on May 23 2022.

Willis has previously denied coordinating with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office, or that her probe was politically motivated.
The filing makes reference to a sealed divorce filing for the married special prosecutor, but then goes on to make the claim based on other information.

It states that 'information obtained outside of court filings indicates that the district attorney and special prosecutor have traveled personally together to such places as Napa Valley, Florida and the Caribbean and the special prosecutor has purchased tickets for both of them to travel on both the Norwegian and Royal Carbibean cruise lines.

'Traveling together to such places as Washington, D.C. or New York City might make sense for work purposes in light of other pending litigation, but what work purpose could only be served by travel to this traditional vacation destinations?'

Roman was charged this summer with alleged crimes including taking part in a racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit forgery, and conspiracy to file false documents, all in connection with a scheme to submit fake Republican electors who would cast votes for Trump in place of electors to reflect Joe Biden's certified victory in the state.

Trump has been charged with 91 criminal offenses in four separate criminal cases, one being the election interference case in Fulton County, Ga., where was booked and arrested and had his famous mugshot.

A Manhattan grand jury has also charged Trump with falsifying business records and Smith, appointed special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland, has charged Trump over his handling of classified documents and separately over his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.

The letter requested all communications between Wade and the Fulton County DA's office and special counsel Jack Smith, the White House Counsel's office, office of the president, Department of Justice and the January 6 Committee last Congress. It also requested all invoices, credit card statements and reimbursement requests to the Fulton County DA's office relating to the Trump investigation and all contracts and financial arrangements with the DA by January 26.


Election Interference CaseFani Willis ControversyRacial MotivationsTrump's AccusationsLegal Misconduct

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[bbuzzard]

DailyMail, eh? OK, BOT