UPDATED: DA Willis has accepted Nathan Wade's resignation.
Breaking news this morning, as Judge Scott McAfee rules in the Fani Willis conflict of interest case.
"We have a decision from Judge Scott McAfee of the Fulton County superior court," Lisa Rubin said.
"He finds there is not an actual conflict of interest that was proven by the defendants here, but he also finds that there is significant appearance of impropriety that infects the entire current structure of the prosecution team. Therefore, he gives Fani Willis a choice. She can either choose to remove herself and her entire office from the prosecution of this case, or she can determine that Nathan Wade, the special assistant district attorney, who has been helming the leadership of this case, can himself be removed from the case, which would allow her and the remainder of the Fulton County district attorney's office to go forward. That's a victory for Fani Willis here.
"That having been said, despite the fact that she has been given an easy choice here, notwithstanding that, there is plenty here for the Trump folks to exploit. In particular, he finds that there was a failure to be as completely honest with the tribunal as these folks should have been. The quote that is really sticking in my mind right now is when he talks about the testimony of Nathan Wade and Fani Willis. He basically says they did not put concerns raised by the defendants to rest, that while the defendants did not prove there was an actual conflict of interest, 'an odor of mendacity remains.'
"That's a direct quote from page 16 of this opinion. He says he's not under obligation to ferret out every single instance of potential dishonesty from the defendants in open court, but reasonable questions about whether the district attorney and her hand-selected lead special assistant district attorney testified untruthfully about the timing of their relationship, further underpinning the finding of an appearance of impropriety and the need to make efforts to clear it. He's saying, look, disqualification isn't necessary when there is a less drastic remedial situation available.
He gives Fani Willis the choice. You can either remove yourself and your office, or you can say boy bye, you're gone, Nathan Wade. Notwithstanding the fact that Fani Willis gets to remain on this case, the Trump team and codefendants succeeded in one other key respect. The modus operandi, the m.o. of the Trump world is delay, delay, delay. Mike Roman was the director of operations for the Trump campaign. She made that motion on January 8th, 2024. We are now at March 15th. It took us more than two months to complete all of the briefing and evidentiary hearings and closing arguments and now the decision on this. In the meantime, nothing on this case moved forward."
