This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
If a judge in Georgia, Scott McAfee, agrees that DA Fani Willis' personal relationship with a prosecutor she hired, her spending on him as he and she enjoyed exotic vacations and more constitutes a conflict of interest for her, a decision to remove her from her case against President Trump could delay any trial on the charges assembled by Nathan Wade under Willis' direction for a long time.
Willis has claimed in the case that President Trump and more than a dozen other people engaged in organized crime with their comments about the 2020 election.
A report from NBC said the ruling could even "scuttle" the case altogether.
A two-day hearing to document evidence about Willis' conflicts ended Friday. A decision by the judge could come at any time.
The NBC report said, "For a new prosecutor to take over the sprawling 15-defendant case would be a 'massive undertaking,' said Amy Lee Copeland, a defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor in Georgia, adding that the theoretical new prosecutor could decide to amend the charges or even 'decide not to pursue it.'"
The issue arose because a co-defendant, Michael Roman, had his lawyers raise questions about the money involved, Willis' romances, Wade's involvement and more.
McAfee said earlier, "Because I think it’s possible that the facts alleged by the defendant could result in disqualification, I think an evidentiary hearing must occur to establish the record on those core allegations."
If Willis is booted, experts explained her entire office would be as well.
"Under a 2022 Georgia law, when a district attorney is disqualified, the case is referred to the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, who is tasked with finding another prosecutor for the case," the report said..
Pete Skandalakis. chief there, said if that happens he'd look for a qualified office to take over.
The disqualification statute does not set out a time table to act.
The report documented that, "In July of 2022, Willis was disqualified from investigating Burt Jones, then a state senator who was running for lieutenant governor, as part of the Trump probe. The disqualification came after she hosted a fundraiser backing a Democratic candidate running for the same job."
The hearing for Willis' ethics issues adjourned Friday after hearing testimony from some of Wade's coworkers, as well as Willis' father.
During the first day of the hearing, the judge heard testimony that seriously undermined the integrity, even honesty, of the Fulton County prosecutor who hired her boyfriend to assemble a RICO case against President Donald Trump and a dozen others.
On Monday, the judge confirmed that Willis could be disqualified over her relationship with Wade, a lawyer with no RICO experience she paid $650,000 of tax money to create the allegations against Trump.
Wade's experience, however, did include a long relationship with Willis, multiple trips to exotic locations with her, and more.
Willis, on the stand late in the hearing, raged furiously about what she claimed were "lies" about her.
She lashed out angrily at the media for "printing lies" and disavowed a onetime friend who told the court Willis' relationship with Wade began in 2019, after Willis claimed in sworn documents to the court it started in 2022.
Wade, on the stand earlier, contended that Willis paid him "cash" for her share of lavish outings, including vacations to Aruba, that they took together.
One of the points of concern was that if Willis set up that $650,000 to be paid to Wade, and he funded trips, which she enjoyed.
It was Willis' college friend, Robin Yeartie, who testified she had knowledge that the Willis-Wade affair began in 2019, before Willis hired Wade to attack Trump.
Willis later testified she no longer was friends with Yeartie.
Wade and Willis already have acknowledged their relationship, after being forced to when Willis was cited, and ordered to testify, in a divorce case involving Wade.
Wade testified about the intimate nature of his relationship with the prosecutor who hired him.
Willis attacked the lawyers questioning her about her obviously problematic behavior, snapping at one over an implication about her relationship with Wade.
The Daily Mail documented, "Fulton County DA Fani Willis went on international trips, dinner dates, and exotic excursions with the 'lover' who was a member of her prosecution team, but reimbursed him with cash payments, special prosecutor Nathan Wade said in explosive court testimony."
Other reports described Willis as "corrupt" and pointed out Willis' office was accused of "intentionally withholding information” in a new lawsuit filed by Ashleigh Merchant, the attorney representing Trump co-defendant Michael Roman.
It was a motion on behalf of Roman that raised the issue of Willis and her potential conflicts of interest in the case.
The judge said, “The state has admitted a relationship existed. And so what remains to be proven is the existence and extent of any financial benefit, again, if there even was one. And so because I think it’s possible that the facts alleged by the defendant could result in disqualification."
Commentators pointed out the entire case would "be decided" without it ever going to trial.
