Trump and others charged with conspiring to overturn 2020 election in Georgia

[Voronwë the Faithful]

To be somewhat pedantic, the settlement is not of the divorce case. It is (as the great Anna Bower points out), "a temporary agreement about financial or other arrangements they will follow during the interim period before a final hearing or settlement."

I doubt that the motion to dismiss will have much impact on the case, other than to give Trump and his allies talking points.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Fani Willis' office has filed its opposition to the motion seek to dismiss the case and or disqualify her. She and Special Counsel Wade admit that they currently have a personal relationship, but assert that that personal relationship did not begin until after he was appointed in the case. They note that some of defendants' attorneys also have personal relationships, but they never raised that because under Georgia law that would not constitute a conflict. They also note that the attorney for Mike Roman who brought the motion actually supported Wade's candidacy for a judgeship and campaigned for him. They note that in fact Wade and Willis have split expenses on trips they have taken together and that therefore there is absolutely not validity to the claim that there somehow is a financial conflict of interest.

[N.E. Brigand]

Fani Willis' office has filed its opposition to the motion seek to dismiss the case and or disqualify her. ...They note that some of defendants' attorneys also have personal relationships, but they never raised that because under Georgia law that would not constitute a conflict. ...

Thanks for that helpful summary. I see that Andrew Fleischman, whose position generally has been disfavorable toward Willis and Wade since the news of their relationship first broke, says that Willis's note about the defense attorneys' personal relationship is "unprofessional."

[Voronwë the Faithful]

That's rich.

[N.E. Brigand]

Fani Willis' office has filed its opposition to the motion seek to dismiss the case and or disqualify her. ...They note that some of defendants' attorneys also have personal relationships, but they never raised that because under Georgia law that would not constitute a conflict. ...

Thanks for that helpful summary. I see that Andrew Fleischman, whose position generally has been disfavorable toward Willis and Wade since the news of their relationship first broke, says that Willis's note about the defense attorneys' personal relationship is "unprofessional."

Jed Shugerman goes further, saying that what's revealed in Wade's affidavit means she should resign. His argument is by confirming they did have a relationship starting in 2022, that demonstrates she had the potential motive to expand the case and make it more complicated because that would generate more work for him.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

All I'll say is that every single legal commentary that I actually respect has the opposite response, and leave it at that.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Mike Roman's attorney Andrew Flieschman Jed Sugerman Ashleigh Merchant has already filed a reply to the opposition (in other words, it was prepared before the opposition was filed) demanding that the judge hold an evidentiary hearing.

Here is Ashleigh Merchant, campaigning for Nathan Wade in 2016.

[N.E. Brigand]

Roman's (attorney's) reply does take into account some elements of Willis's opposition (and Wade's affidavit), for instance:

"In Paragraph 31 of your affidavit, you swore that you have never cohabitated with Ms. Willis but the attached documents show you shared a king size bed with her in Aruba from November 1, 2022 until November 4, 2022."

That's pretty ridiculous. Sharing a hotel room is not "cohabitating." Nor is staying overnight at someone's home (in Roman's next paragraph). He had his own place. She had her own place. Unless one of them moved out entirely, there was no "cohabitating." If Roman thinks this is a valid argument, it seems clear that he's got nothing.

And the fact that Andrew Fleischman now says that Roman's reply, if true, shows that "Nathan Wade lied in his affidavit about cohabiting with Fani Willis" tells me that Fleischman is not a serious person, so I'm regretting having quoted him before.

(Edited to remove unnecessary snark. Sorry about that.)

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Oh darn! I m sorry I missed the snark!

And yes, i should have said that Merchant basically had the reply ready to go and just pulled in whatever random details could pull out of the opposition.

[RoseMorninStar]

Yeah, that situation definitely deserves snark.

[N.E. Brigand]

In 2022, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had to drop her investigation into Georgia state senator Burt Jones because of a conflict of interest: Willis was scheduled to host a fundraiser for Jones's Democratic opponent, Charlie Bailey, in the 2022 contest for Lieutenant Governor. Jones won that election and has held that position for just over a year. Willis was investigating Jones because of various steps he allegedly took as part of the fake-electors-for-Trump scheme in that state. Jones had also publicly called for the Georgia legislature to simply ignore the 2020 popular vote and instead select a slate of Trump electors. When Willis indicted Donald Trump and others in 2023, Jones's actions were noted but he was neither indicted nor named. The head of the state's Prosecuting Attorneys Council said that a special prosecutor would be appointed to investigate Jones. That still hasn't happened. But maybe it finally will, now that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a story today that says Jones:

allegedly sought access to election computers in Butts County after the 2020 election, an effort that, if successful, would have been illegal, according to emails among state election officials that were shown in court Thursday. ... Jones asked election officials in Butts County whether he could bring a “forensic analyst” to inspect the county’s elections management server in December 2020, according to an email from Michael Barnes, the director of the Georgia Center for Election Systems. “This would be against the law,” responded Ryan Germany, general counsel for Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger at the time. “They are not allowed to give an unauthorized person access to their EMS server. That would be a huge security breach.”

To be sure, just making a request like this is not a crime. But it is in keeping with his other alleged behavior which needs to be properly examined.

- - - - - - - - - -

Oh darn! I m sorry I missed the snark!

While I think Fleischman is somewhat blinkered on this subject, he's often on point as regards other issues. (Today, for example, he's shooting down myths about illegal immigration.)

[N.E. Brigand]

I'm not able to watch the Georgia hearing on television, but responses to it seem split based on people's general sympathy for prosecuting vs. defense attorneys.

[N.E. Brigand]

One of the defendants was reprimanded by the judge for laughing when the special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, said under oath that district attorney Fani Willis, with whom he was having a romantic relationship, would generally pay in cash for her portion of shared expenses or would reimburse him cash for her share of expenses he'd paid for. Some The defendant laughed, and a lot of outside observers are skeptical, because it seems like a convenient way to explain way the supposed conflict that might arise if Willis was using state funds to pay Wade for gifts (like travel) that he was then paying her for.

On the other hand, while large cash payments would be unusual in this electronic age, it would not be unheard of. I know some people who carry a large amount of cash with them and prefer to do business that way. And relative to their incomes, the amounts I've seen described don't seem to be particularly significant. Curious to know what more is presented this afternoon after the lunch break.

The first and supposed star witness whom the defense had called to testify that Willis and Wade were romantically involved prior to him being appointed by her as special prosecutor in November 2021 in explained that he had been advised by the state bar that he shouldn't answer questions because of attorney-client privilege. (Apparently he had represented Wade for a time in his divorce case.) Then a friend and coworker of Willis testified that Willis and Wade had been romantically involved as early as 2019, but on cross-examination she was unable to say how close the two had been (and maybe she had an axe to grind for having been disciplined at work, although she denied there was any connection between that and her testimony). Wade himself, whose direct testimony will resume shortly, testified that after his wife had an affair in 2015, they agreed to divorce -- and in his mind he considered himself divorced -- but they delayed legal proceedings until their children were older. He also apparently testified that he had not had a romantic relationship with anyone else until starting to date Willis in March 2022.

If I had to guess, I think Wade and Willis probably were closer before 2021 than they have admitted, but that it didn't become serious until after they were working together on the Trump matter. But that's really just a guess.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Then a friend and coworker of Willis testified that Willis and Wade had been romantically involved as early as 2019, but on cross-examination she was unable to say how close the two had been (and maybe she had an axe to grind for having been disciplined at work, although she denied there was any connection between that and her testimony).

Former friend and former co-worker. She was not just disciplined; she was fired (technically she resigned when given the choice to do so instead) and she has not spoken with Willis since. Her testimony was not very credible to me, though what the judge thinks I could not say.

[N.E. Brigand]

Hugo Lowell just reported this, which I hadn't heard before, although it may not be relevant:

"Nathan Wade says he wasn’t dating anyone in 2020 because he was battling cancer and could not go out into non-sterile environment."

[Voronwë the Faithful]

It certainly is relevant. I consider it the most important testimony heard so far.

The defendants are now trying to call D.A. Willis to the stand and the judge is hearing arguments from both sides as to whether that should be allowed.

ETA: Apparently she is taking the stand.

[N.E. Brigand]

On the other hand, while large cash payments would be unusual in this electronic age, it would not be unheard of. I know some people who carry a large amount of cash with them and prefer to do business that way.

Reported by Anthony Michael Kreis: "Fani Willis says she always keeps six months' worth of cash at the house at all times."

Note to potential burglars?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Actually, what she said that her father insisted that she always keep at least six months of cash at the house. A small but subtle difference.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The judge is pissed at Roman's attorney, Merchant.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Trump's attorney Sadow is incredibly condescending. I had to turn it off; watching and listening to a white man treating a black woman in that way was just too much.