What the hell was that prosecutor thinking? In this canton, looking for accommodation is particularly difficult; it is a self-experiment

There is no doubt that Fani Willis has jurisprudence in her blood. Her father was a famous lawyer who made a name for himself as a defender of Black Panther members, a radical civil rights movement. He was also the one who largely raised his daughter. As a result, Fani Willis, now 53, quickly knew her way around courthouses more than school buildings. It is logical that she also chose to study law, which she completed in 1996 at Emory University Georgia.

Trump’s fateful phone call

Since 2018, Willis has been the district attorney in Fulton County, a district in the state of Georgia. This predominantly Black neighborhood made headlines after the 2020 presidential election. Without evidence, the Trump camp claimed there was massive voter fraud in Fulton County. The ex-president therefore personally turned to Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger and asked him in a memorable telephone conversation to please provide him with the 11,780 votes he lacked to win the Georgia elections.

Unfortunately for Trump, this phone call was recorded by a young aide to the former president. After January 6, 2021, she had such a bad conscience that she made sure that these tape recordings were made public. Trump now had a big problem – and Fani Willis had a case.

Willis went all out. While special counsel Jack Smith focused on Trump, she opened a so-called Rico case. This procedural code, designed for organized crime, makes it possible to accuse multiple people at the same time and play them off against each other. At the same time, the minimum penalty for a conviction in a Rico case is five years in prison without parole.

Several well-known US lawyers therefore believed that Fani Willis’ Rico case posed the greatest threat to Trump, especially since even if re-elected he has no way to overturn a possible guilty verdict. Presidents can only pardon national crimes, not those decided by a federal court.

In fact, it should soon become clear that Trump is in big trouble. After nearly two years of investigation and countless interviews with witnesses, Willis convinced a grand jury – a panel of jurors who decide whether someone can be indicted – that not only the ex-president, but eighteen other people were in a conspiracy with him. must take responsibility for the process.

Initially, things seemed to be going very well for Willis. As is common in Rico cases, the defendants soon began pleading guilty in exchange for a lenient sentence. This is what lawyer Sidney Powell says, who argues the absurd theory that the voting machines have been manipulated by Hugo Chávez, the dictator of Venezuela, who died in 2013. Former Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro and former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis, Rudy Giuliani’s sidekick, also pleaded guilty.

Moreover, the responsible judge Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff, who was also accused, denied that his trial could take place separately and in a national court.

Thanks to Willis, Trump also received his famous ‘mugshot’, the police photo taken when a suspect has to appear in court for the first time.

Anyone who doubted Willis’ approach – and there were many – now had to eat chalk. Instead of criticizing Willis, they began to wonder which trial was more threatening to Trump: the trial in Washington, which concerns his role in the storming of the Capitol, or the case in Georgia.

The discussion could soon become redundant as the process in Georgia threatens to fail. This is due to an almost inexplicable stupidity on the part of the prosecutor, or again due to the realization that in the battle between the gut and the brain, the gut usually wins.

One of the defendants, a certain Michael Roman, learned that Willis was having an affair with Nathan Wade, the head of her investigative team. Prosecutors hired this private attorney, even though he had no experience with Rico cases, and she approved payments totaling $650,000 for his services. The affair is not illegal, the costs for lawyer Wade correspond to the usual rates. Nevertheless, Willis’ clumsy behavior has put him in a precarious position.

Meanwhile, another judge has intervened. He must clarify whether Willis gave her former lover – the relationship is now over – a job, whether she benefited from it and whether the two even committed perjury.

First things first: Willis explains that their romance didn’t begin until after Wade was hired. The two also agreed that the costs of their joint excursions – including vacations in the Caribbean – were shared. The opposite has not yet been proven. And as far as the romance started, Willis even signed an affidavit.

However, this is questioned. A former co-worker and friend of Willis testified under oath to the contrary. However, her testimony has a serious flaw: the witness was fired by Willis for poor performance.

However, there is other alleged evidence. The lawyer in the lawsuit against Willis refers to a total of 12,000 telephone conversations that the telephone company claims took place between Willis and Wade. However, this evidence is also shaky, as these statistics are notoriously flawed.

Finally, there’s Wade’s former partner and divorce attorney, one Terence Bradley, who also originally stated that the relationship between the two began before Wade was hired. However, Bradley retracted this statement in court. Now he says under oath that his original statement was pure speculation.

Perjury is a serious crime. If the judge concludes that Willis lied under oath, things will be bitter for the prosecution. She is then removed from the case against Trump and barred from court. That would not only be the inglorious end for an extremely talented prosecutor, it would also be an unexpected gift for Trump and his co-defendants.