Tipsheet

With Fani Willis' Investigation Engulfed in Scandal, New Poll in Georgia Is Another Problem for Dems

Guy Benson
Guy Benson  |  January 18, 2024 10:25 AM

Set aside, for a moment, Donald Trump's conduct in Georgia after his 2020 loss there. It rightly disturbed a number senior Republican officials in the state. Whether his actions amount to criminal offenses, let alone as part of a sweeping racketeering case, is a separate question. Some legal experts are dubious. Fulton County's elected Democratic District Attorney decided to 'go big' with a sprawling RICO conspiracy prosecution centered around the former president, and scrutiny of her own behavior and decisions is now casting a shadow of scandal over the entire process. Willis is accused of hiring her lover as a top prosecutor in the case, despite his glaring lack of relevant expertise and experience:

Allegations that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis engaged in an improper relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor on her team that brought racketeering charges against Donald Trump and others, are focusing attention on the Atlanta attorney with little previous criminal trial experience.There exists no record that Wade, a lawyer in private practice hired to lead the Trump case, has ever handled a felony trial in Georgia, according to a filing Monday by a co-defendant in the Trump case. The filing alleges that Wade and Willis have been in a continuing romantic relationship that predates her hiring him. While the filing didn’t provide evidence of a romantic relationship, it makes a bombshell claim: that Willis hired her alleged boyfriend, and they both financially benefited from the arrangement.

She allegedly picked the guy she was sleeping with -- who hasn't handled a previous felony trial in the state, let alone a complex and adventurous racketeering case -- to lead one of the most high-profile legal dramas in the country.  Willis didn't initially respond to these major accusations, later saying that her office would deal with them in due time, through court documents.  But she chose to lash out publicly a few days ago, playing the race card to avoid the substance of the claims against her:

In a speech on Sunday at a historic Atlanta church, the Georgia prosecutor said she was "flawed" and "imperfect". Ms Willis is accused of having an improper relationship with an attorney she has called a "great friend". She blamed the criticisms on race. It was the first time Ms Willis, Fulton County's first black female district attorney, made any public comment even hinting at the allegations since they first appeared in a court filing on 8 January...The lawyers alleged the special prosecutor hired by Ms Willis' office, Nathan Wade, had a "lack of relevant experience" but has been paid roughly $650,000 (£510,705) in legal fees since being appointed. And, according to the court filing, Mr Wade and Ms Willis took lavish vacations together on cruises and to places like California and the Caribbean.

During a service celebrating Martin Luther King Jr Day, Ms Willis did not mention Mr Wade by name or address the allegations of having an improper relationship. She focused her roughly 30-minute remarks on the role she felt race has played in the accusations, while defending Mr Wade's credentials.  Ms Willis said she was "a little confused" why so many questioned her decision to bring in multiple special prosecutors to the case and asked if her critics were "playing the race card".  "I appointed three special counsellors. It's my right to do. Paid them all the same hourly rate," Ms Willis said. "They only attacked one," she said, adding that the other two outside lawyers were white. Ms Willis also used her speech to detail her difficulties with the rampant racism she said she has faced since taking on the case.  "I am tired of being treated cruelly," Ms Willis said, describing feelings of "isolation", "loneliness" and death threats that have forced her from her home.  "They call me the N-word more than they call me Fani."

She says that critics "only attacked one" of the prosecutors she hired, as if that's a compelling argument that proves racial animus.  Well, the one just happens to be the guy with no experience, who's sleeping with her, and who is alleged to have used the taxpayer-funded proceeds of that arrangement to take her on pricey vacations.  If one or both of the people in this arrangement were white, under the exact same circumstances, I suspect the reaction would be identical. And in trying to defend herself by deflecting to the irrelevancy of skin color, it appears she lied:

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who was recently criticized for allegedly having an "improper" romantic relationship with a prosecutor, is now being accused of paying one of her attorneys $100 less per hour than her alleged lover, Nathan Wade, according to reports. The New York Post reported that Wade was billing the DA’s office $250 per hour in November and December 2021, as he worked on the prosecution against former President Donald Trump, who is accused of election interference in 2020. Court records alleged Wade had no experience in state racketeering law...But another prosecutor on the team, John Floyd, reportedly has considerable knowledge when it comes to Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) cases. Floyd billed $150 per hour during the same months Wade billed $250 per hour, according to a contract obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation...Court documents filed earlier this month say Willis hired special prosecutor Nathan Wade, her alleged partner, to prosecute Trump and benefited financially from the relationship in the form of lavish vacations the two went on using funds his firm received for working the case. The accusation about the difference in pay comes nearly a week after Trump’s co-defendant, Michael Roman, accused Willis and Wade of having an "improper" and "clandestine" affair at the same time appointments were being made for the 2020 election interference case.

While crying racism, Willis claimed she paid all three attorneys in question the same hourly rate. These documents apparently show that she was paying her lover (allegedly her secret lover at the time she appointed him to the case) much more than the lawyer with actual expertise in key areas. This keeps getting worse for her, and it could impact both this case and her career. Meanwhile, a new poll shows Georgia voters -- who narrowly chose Biden over Trump four years ago -- moving back toward Trump:

This is yet another battleground or national poll showing Trump in much stronger position than he was in 2016 or 2020.  That's been encouraging to the Trump campaign and has made it harder for GOP rivals to convince voters of an electability problem if they nominate the former president again -- a concern that was far more potent after the party's disappointing showing in the midterms.  But hovering over all of this is the prospect of a possible-to-likely Trump conviction on at least some of the felony charges lodged against him, before November's election.  How would that play?  Potentially very damagingly, according to this:

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As I pointed out on Twitter, this could be a major electoral ripple coming down the line before November. Most GOP voters have made clear they don’t care about this very real possibility, but other voters very well might. Hoping the impact of a conviction would be minimal or fleeting or survivable is at the very least a significant roll of the dice ahead of a high-stakes election.  On the other side you have, well, this: