Monday, March 4, 2024

Why GA Judge Won’t Disqualify Fani Willis

David Catron; American Spectator  In two months, Judge McAfee has to face the voters in overwhelmingly Democrat Fulton County.
His behavior in the courtroom suggests that he lacks the courage to do so 60 days before he faces Fulton County voters. He isn’t corrupt, but he may be a coward. 

"Any rational person familiar with the behavior of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis during the prosecutorial misconduct hearings that finally ended last Friday has probably concluded that her conduct has created the “appearance of impropriety.” This, according to defense lawyers for former President Trump and several co-defendants, is sufficient to disqualify Willis and the Fulton County DA’s office from prosecuting the RICO case they launched last August. Indeed, defense attorney Harry MacDougald cited six examples of actual conflicts of interest, any one of which is sufficient to disqualify Willis and her office. Yet it’s unlikely that it will happen.

"Why not? The decision must be made by Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who said on Friday that he would rule on the motion to disqualify Willis and her office in about two weeks. Unfortunately for the defendants, McAfee is a temporary appointee to the bench who must face Fulton County voters for the first time about 60 days after his ruling. Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp appointed him last year to complete the term of retiring Judge Christopher S. Brasher. According to McAfee’s campaign website, his election will take place on May 21. Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, is overwhelmingly Democratic and its voters will be less than pleased with the judge if he disqualifies Willis and her office. 

"Further complicating matters is the fact that McAfee once worked in the Fulton County DA’s office and was supervised by none other than Fani Willis, according to a report in the New York Times. This presumably explains his weirdly passive response to her disruptive courtroom antics during her February 15 testimony. He allowed her to ignore questions, accuse defense attorneys of lying and imply that they represented a threat to democracy. McAfee’s supine attitude doesn’t bode well for disqualification. Nor do the questions he asked defense attorneys during closing arguments. Here’s how he responded to an attorney who questioned Willis’s claim to have repaid Nathan Wade back in cash for all his monetary gifts:" . . .

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