Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has announced that he will move forward with an evidentiary hearing on Thursday to consider a Trump co-defendant’s motion to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her office from prosecuting the 2020 election interference case in Georgia and to drop all the charges against him. You can find the full story here.
Michael Roman, a former Republican National Committee staffer, is alleging that Willis had an improper relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, paid him more than $650,000 for his work for the D.A.’s office and then benefited financially from the relationship when Wade allegedly took her on cruises and trips.
Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over the Trump election interference case, has declined to quash subpoenas for Willis, Wade and other witnesses to testify on Thursday but has deferred that ruling until he gets “deeper into the hearing” that day. He says that the evidentiary hearing must occur to establish the record on those core allegations.
But he also mentioned that some of the arguments made by Roman’s attorney are not relevant, and Anna Cross, an attorney for the Fulton County D.A., sought to quash motions for witness testimony including Willis and Wade, arguing that the defense was “not bringing you law,” but “bringing you gossip.”
In August, a grand jury in Fulton County indicted Trump and more than a dozen of his associates for election fraud, racketeering and other charges related to alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. So far, four out of the 19 charged have pleaded guilty, including three lawyers involved in the effort to thwart the election in Georgia. Trump and the rest of the defendants have pleaded not guilty.