From "Filing alleges ‘improper’ relationship between Fulton DA, top Trump prosecutor" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution).
The factual basis of this motion was, according to Roman's lawyer, obtained from documents filed in Wade's divorce case, which was later sealed (improperly).
The linked article quotes the lawprof Stephen Gillers, an expert on legal and judicial ethics:
If the allegations are true, Gillers said, “Willis was conflicted in the investigation and prosecution of this case” and wasn’t able to bring the sort of “independent professional judgment” her position requires.
“That does not mean that her decisions were in fact improperly motivated,” Gillers said in an e-mail. “It does mean that the public and the state, as her client, could not have the confidence in the independent judgment that her position required her to exercise.”...
The motion said the checks sent to Wade from Fulton County and his subsequent purchase of vacations for Willis could amount to honest services fraud, a federal crime in which a vendor gives kickbacks to an employer. It is also possible this could be prosecuted under the federal racketeering statute, the motion said....
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70 comments:
Ethics? We don't need no stinking ethics! We're chasing that a**hole Trump!
What do Democrats care about words like “illegal,” “improper,” or “ethical”?
Here’s what we know: no one will be prosecuted.
Doubt if I will be the first to notice this, but there is a common theme here - the prosecutions of Trump tend to be corrupt. A very good case can be made that Special Prosecutor Jack Smith is operating illegally. Special Prosecutors must be US Attorneys, who have gone through the process of Presidential nomination and Senate confirmation. He isn’t. They are principal Officers under the Constitution. He was a private attorney, who reports directly to the AG (or at least the DAG), which is a highly political post. No wonder the prosecution looks like it’s being run from the WH - it is. But then, Mueller was the same, except that he had, in the past gone through Senate confirmation as FBI Director (which is (IMHO illegally) quasi exempt from Presidential oversight) many years earlier. Mueller reported to compromised DAG Rosenberg after AG Sessions foolishly recused himself.
That is 3 of the 4 criminal prosecutions of Trump. No doubt, the GA prosecution is probably just as corrupt.
“[C]ould be prosecuted under a Federal racketeering statute? Wow. If so, this karma would be epic.
That’s a nice racket she has going.
Doubling down on disorder has been the establishment's modus operandi for a very long time. Trump has been attacked because he was naïve, not in that game, and he called it out.
That's Atlanta, Jack. I can count the number of non-corrupt public officials with one hand.
While holding a sandwich.
This handsome married boy toy had never prosecuted a RICO case. And if he and fat Fani hadn't taken all those luxury vacations using court funds she paid him and he used to make their reservations, we'd be done with all this. Besides, she has more than enough staff and no need to hire special non-prosecutor special prosecutors.
I had no idea she had hired someone to prosecute Trump. I thought she was using her own staff.
Both should be disbarred.
Under the rules that someone does not need to be convicted of a crime to be barred from office, only accused of the crime, Fani Willis should immediately be barred from office. And anyone in her office who was involved should be fired and barred from becoming AG.
Also, simply because of Bruce Hayden's post, isn't Jack Smith biasing an entire process with all of his media interviews/leaks/statements? At what point are his public-facing actions towards Trump either criminal towards Trump or towards a Presidential election?
Also, are we going to pretend the FBI didn't raid Trump's property on claims or an urgent national security basis that appears to have never materialized?
wow! I'm shocked, shocked I say to learn that corrupt unethical prosecutors are engaged in corrupt unethical activities. Just shocked.
If I’m the trial judge, I dismiss the case.
The only thing worse than Trump are his enemies...which is why he'll probably get in again. God help us all.
Take a load off Fani.
When I was a young lawyer at Big Law in Omaha, one of the male married partners had an affair with a female married associate. She was a friend of mine. He was, according to her, going to divorce his wife and marry my female friend. Didn’t happen. Lawsuit in federal court. Both remain married to their spouses to this day.
The past president of the Nebraska Bar was from my old firm. He quotes this guy as analyzing tough situations by asking himself: What’s the worst that could happen?
Fani should have thought of that first. Bad judgment.
These are the people who are deciding who the rest of us get to vote for. Corrupt penny-ante political hacks.
Also, are we going to pretend the FBI didn't raid Trump's property on claims or an urgent national security basis that appears to have never materialized?
That was a test. The press, the Republicans, and the country failed. The rest of this nonsense followed. If that absolute outrage was allowed to stand (it was), anything and everything goes.
So here we are, hoping against hope that the Supreme Court will act like grownups and save the Republic against the latest outrage, while the lefties plan the next assault.
If I’m the trial judge, I dismiss the case.
Dave, if you were the trial judge we wouldn't have the problem we have today. There is one clear path to justice under the law in this matter - we both know they will trod another path as long as possible.
Some say that the best path is to leave them alone until the whole structure collapses from the weight of its own contradictions. Watching it happen is existential torment. I have no confidence that what would emerge from it would be anything we could accept as a world we would live in with any sense of purpose or joy. The more I think about this, the more I take refuge in prayer.
If Jack Smith is not properly appointed, would his DC and FL indictments of Trump effectively be null and void? And what would be done about any assist he rendered in the GA cases?
Hmm. $654,000.
I’d have a relationship with Fani for that kind of money.
The judge worked for willis so hes not going to do anything
As the saying goes, I do not think any less of her.
If Smith was illegally appointed, Garland should be impeached. And Biden too for that matter, if he forced these indictments.
Breezy:
The legality of Smith’s appointment is before SCOTUS. That’s how the federal cases go away.
yuck
Pass the popcorn.
As a former Atlanta resident (not missing it one bit) I am going to enjoy every minute of this one. Schadenfreude? Yes indeed.
With all these bombshells you think that everyone would be suffering from Shell shock. Exactly just the opposite for the vast majority of normal people who don't allow politics to encroach on their Identity or self-esteem, LOL.
I agree, Cheryl. I'm imagining the look of frightful constipation as it transitions to explosive diarrhea on the face of Rachel Maddox.
So accepting vacations is now corrupt?
That will be news to Justice Thomas
Dave Begley - Isn’t the legality of his appointment being reviewed at Appellate level? So if that court finds its illegal, then you’re saying it does moot the cases, as they are technically illegal cases. Is there a similar stain on the GA cases, which have had some coordination with Smith’s team?
The way Atlanta disintegrated over the last 10 years is nothing short of tragic. Those fucking condos and towers don’t make it not so if you’re the kinda of scumbag that might want to argue that.
“Also, are we going to pretend the FBI didn't raid Trump's property on claims or an urgent national security basis that appears to have never materialized”.
What must be remembered is that the FL case was not, at least up through the indictment, being run by Jack Smith, but by Jay Bratt, deputy Special Prosecutor AND branch chief of the Counterintelligence and Export Branch at the DOJ. They are the sister organization to the Counterintelligence Division, at the FBI. Together, they were the organizations that exonerated Crooked Hillary, and hounded Trump, starting with Crossfire Hurricane. Together, they illegally and fraudulently obtained the four FISA warrants on Carter Page, which were presumably used to electronically surveillance Trump, his campaign, and his inner circle (with the two hop rule). They were the ones who ran the § 1001 perjury trap on LTG Flynn, to remove him from the Administration (because he knew where too many bodies were buried).
In any case, in his last full day in office, Trump ordered a binder of classified documents declassified that showed the misfeasance and malfeasance of these two organizations, into and through his Administration. Their MAL search warrant was for documents marked as classified. They knew he had some, because he had that binder - that implicated them in their misfeasance and malfeasance, and those documents had not yet been marked as declassified. My guess has long been that the MAL search was primarily to get those documents back. Interestingly, there has been no mention of them, or really about the contents of the other supposedly classified documents they seized from that search. And the prosecutors seem to have tried hard keeping that information from Trump’s attorneys. Unfortunately for them, they drew a Trump nominated federal district judge, who fairly quickly saw through their smoke screen, and started holding their feet to the fire. They can’t dawdle in getting his attorneys high enough security clearances to view the documents he is charged with keeping, then delay letting them see those documents (and the ones filed with them), and expect a March trial date.
What must be remembered is that these two organizations are in control of investigating and prosecuting a large percentage of the cases inking classified information. And we saw with Crossfire Hurricane, Mueller, etc, that they use this power to their advantage, leaking what they want, regardless dress of classification level, and prosecute anyone else with the temerity to do the same against them. And their excuse for whatever they do is National Security. So, I put very little weight on their doing so here - it is what they always do, to justify their use of power.
Blogger donald said...
The way Atlanta disintegrated over the last 10 years is nothing short of tragic. Those fucking condos and towers don’t make it not so if you’re the kinda of scumbag that might want to argue that.
1/9/24, 7:45 AM
——————
I have not been south of North Ave on the Peachtree Corridor since the Braves moved to Cobb.
Blogger donald said...
The way Atlanta disintegrated over the last 10 years is nothing short of tragic. Those fucking condos and towers don’t make it not so if you’re the kinda of scumbag that might want to argue that.
1/9/24, 7:45 AM
——————
I have not been south of North Ave on the Peachtree Corridor since the Braves moved to Cobb.
“The legality of Smith’s appointment is before SCOTUS. That’s how the federal cases go away”
Has the Supreme Court agreed to hear those cases yet? Avoiding that would seem to be more in keeping with how CJ Roberts operates.
If this is true (and I note it's submitted by someone she's prosecuting, and the evidence isn't presented very well), this shows incredibly poor judgement.
Interesting that it all comes from Divorce Proceedings that seem to have been improperly sealed. I'm reminded of Obama and Ryan.
If only someone had warned you all about making prosecutors your heroes. If the allegations are true, both Willis and the special prosecutor should go to jail. It’s important to note, though, that the Georgia case has never been the most credible or likely to convict Trump. That would be the DC case.
Breezy:
IMO, yes.
I understand there has also been strategic and financial coordination between these DAs and the Biden White House and/or DOJ.
Is the administration dangling quid pro quo should Biden get re-elected? I'm sure Fani Willis would not turn down a well-paying "no-show" beltway job or ambassadorship.
Not found anywhere on NBC news and all the NBC(D) affiliates.
Mark said...
So accepting vacations is now corrupt?
That will be news to Justice Thomas
1/9/24, 7:38 AM
You spelled Joe Biden wrong.
The only thing worse than Trump are his enemies...which is why he'll probably get in again.
That essentially is the story of Trump’s success starting in 2016. And it is not just him being a lesser of two evils, as it mostly was for 2016. The bad faith efforts to get rid of Trump make it clear to reasonable people that those committing those efforts shouldn’t be rewarded. The only way they provide to not reward them is to reward Trump. That’s the game they created by choosing to block him via legal means rather than beating him with better policies.
I'm wondering why the prosecutor traveled to Athens, GA (known only for its football team and music scene of the 70s & 80s) in order to meet with the White House counsel on 5/23/23? The university's law school had its graduation on the 20th so maybe the meeting was coordinated with the attorneys attending the graduation ceremony of a family member. The prosecutor's office is in Atlanta so why not meet there? If they didn't want to meet in the office, hotels near the airport have rooms one can reserve just for people flying into the city for short meetings. So, why travel 70 miles away to Athens to meet?
As far as I know, there has been no public pushback on the allegation by Willis or the special prosecutor, which suggests strongly that the allegations are true. Travel out of country together would be especially easy to prove, even for a private attorney. I am guessing that if they have filed this in court, the defense has video and documentary evidence to back it all up.
Lefty Mark,
You will have to find a corrupt decision that Thomas was a party to for one of his benefactors before your point has any weight. There really does have to be quid and quo in that particular situation.
It’s always a case of following the money with these sleazebags. Peacocks on the walk stuffing their pockets.
Professional black democrats don't go to jail...
Mark said...
So accepting vacations is now corrupt?
That will be news to Justice Thomas
1/9/24, 7:38 AM
***********
funny...I don't recall Clarence Thomas paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to someone whom he then goes on lavish loveboat vacations with.
(Mark's inane comments tell me he has a masochistic need to come here for his fair share of abuse.)
The complete corruption of the accuser doesn't affect the validity of the accusation. See Hillary Clinton and her Russian dossier. Oh, wait, I think I should find a different example.
Worse than fire ants.
Mark said...
So accepting vacations is now corrupt?
That will be news to Justice Thomas
Get back to us when that vacation is paid for by an underling he's banging and who was enriched by public money he authorized.
Take a knee for social, and career progress. #HimToo
Friends with benefits, and a side of more than $600,000 cash. Now that's a sweet deal.
Big Mike said...
"What do Democrats care about words like 'illegal,' 'improper,' or 'ethical'?"
The Demcrats need to review the Four Universal Rules of Rhetoric Safety:
- Treat all words as if they are always loaded.
- Never let your rhetoric point at anything that you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the 'Publish' button until your sights are on target and you have made the decision to speak.
- Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
In particular, that last rule seems to be violated a lot lately (e.g., see the 'Your Terms Are Acceptable' memes).
When one gets to the kickback part, one might think they are prosecuting the wrong people for racketeering.
Fucking Democrats!
Funny how every single time the Democrats appoint someone to a position of power like this, they turn out to be corrupt. EVERY SINGLE ITME.
Blacks are treated like children in this country.
We don't hold them to any sort of standard.
When they fuck up we just sigh and say, 'Oh well.'
Soft bigotry, etc.
Newsweek headline this morning: "Fani Willis' Prosecutor Meeting White House Counsel Raises "
"There are calls for the White House to reveal details of two 2022 meetings that reportedly took place between its employees and Nathan Wade.."
What a tangled web we weave .....
More Fani and her paramour:
"After his appointment as a special prosecutor, Wade met with officials of the White House Counsel’s Office on May 23 and Nov. 18, 2022, during Willis’ investigation of Trump and several months prior to his indictment, according to billing records included in a motion to disqualify Wade from the case.
In both cases, Wade billed the district attorney’s office $2,000 for eight hours of work regarding his meetings with the White House Counsel’s Office. The names of the officials he met with are unknown, and it is unclear whether he met with Dana Remus or Stuart Delery, Biden’s two White House counsels during that period."
This doesn't smell at all.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/georgia-trump-prosecutor-accused-secret-disqualifying-romance-da-fani-willis
Willis was having an affair with this married lawyer and when he divorced his wife they did not sealed the divorce papers.
There’s probably a treasure trove of salacious stuff just waiting to be picked up…
Btw none of this was discovered by a curious media. The discovery came when the former Trump staffer hired competent lawyers who did their due diligence for his defence.
Willis is almost as crooked as Joe Biden.
When you're doing corrupt and illegal things, the last thing that you want to do is to initiate one of the highest profile cases in history. You should know that you're going to be put under a microscope.
If this is true, she is a complete dumbass.
Looks like the lover billed 24 hours of work in one day.
Rationalization. Those Wall Street lawyers do it, right?
Willis boyfriend went to the White House and tried to get Georgia to reimburse him for the trip.
Aside from the appearance of coordination between the White House and Willies, why didn’t anyone catch this before? What was the Special Counsel prosecuting Trump doing at the White House?
Doesn’t anybody look to see who’s coming and going to the White House?
Are the White House logs getting scrubbed?
Keep asking questions.
Btw the special counsel boyfriend has never prosecuted a RICO case. Some of the most complex laws Willis hands it to a novice. The prosecution of a former president. And nobody raised an eyebrow.
We have one party rule. All the checks and balances are broken.
Mark said...
So accepting vacations is now corrupt?
Accepting vacations from someone you corruptly hired and then paid with other people's money is indeed Corrupt, Mark.
Are you really so stupid that has to be explained to you? Why yes, yes you are
"Willis is almost as crooked as Joe Biden."
Not even close. Fani Willis' corruption is to Joe Biden's as Joe Biden's corruption is to Hillary Clinton's. Not even close.
So accepting vacations is now corrupt?
That will be news to Justice Thomas
You really need to find something else to do with your free time.
Joe Smith said...
Professional black democrats don't go to jail...
1/9/24, 10:10 AM
The exception that proves the rule! Jefferson had $90k in his freezer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Jefferson_corruption_case#:~:text=A%20few%20days%20later%2C%20on,and%20stuffed%20inside%20frozen%2Dfood
Dave Begley: the judges in Atlanta are worse than the lawyers. That said, I'm surprised at Fani Willis. She's too smart and too competent for this sort of behavior. Until she was assigned the Trump case and began grandstanding, I respected her, and I don't say that about many Atlanta prosecutors. Honeypot?
Actually, Bill Clinton and his HUD chief tore down all the housing projects in Atlanta in 1995 and moved the entire population of baddies to poor Clayton County, outside the city. Within a few years, property values there cratered 80%. The new Sheriff positioned sharp shooters on the roof of the police HQ and fired every white cop.
Downtown is now a playground for hipsters, playing in million dollar condos built on the bones of murdered prostitutes. There's still crime, and it's on the rise again.
But we have a mayor and city council with just enough backbone, supported by our excellent governor, supporting the police, at least more than in most places. Still I'm glad to be gone Every new batch of young thugs, battling it out with Hispanic and Asian gangs, take their toll.
Biden has not been well served by the black women he has allied with, and Willis is just another of them.
He probably thought he was buying insurance against losing the election, and she was just salivating over the graft to be collected.
On second thought, maybe they are two peas in a pod.
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