Defense attorney Caroline Polisi told MSNBC former President Donald Trump’s election interference case could be over soon Wednesday.
Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the Georgia case alleging racketeering by Trump and his co-defendants, dismissed six counts from the indictment on Wednesday. Polisi told MSNBC anchor Ana Cabrera that the dismissal of charges and the potential disqualification of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could be the “death knell” of the case.
“I just wonder if he would go there. If he would dismiss charges if he’s planning to throw out the case or remove it from Fani Willis altogether as we await that decision over the question about whether there was misconduct with her relationship with Nathan Wade,” Cabrera said.
Willis has been the subject of various hearings regarding her romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, whom she hired as special prosecutor in Trump’s Georgia election interference case. The Fulton County District Attorney allegedly benefited from appointing her secret lover, according to the defendants’ attorneys. (RELATED: MSNBC Legal Analyst Says Fani Willis ‘Absolutely’ Damaged Case Against Trump)
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“It shouldn’t have anything to do with it,” Polisi told Cabrera. “These are completely distinct legal issues, and certainly his decision on the disqualification as we all know does not kill the case in and of itself. He wouldn’t dismiss the indictment. It would just be reassigned to sort of a governing body in Georgia to then be reassigned. However, I myself feel and many other people feel that that would, in effect, essentially be the death knell for this case because, uh, you know, another time when Fani Willis was, um, removed from a case for, in this very case, for a conflict of interest, that case is still languishing at that body.”
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Willis was previously barred from organizing a prosecution in 2020 against Georgia Lieutenant Gov. Burt Jones, who was campaigning for his office at the time, due to Willis hosting a fundraiser for Charlie Bailey, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, NBC News reported. Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney reportedly decided that Willis’ participation in the event was “harmful” to investigating Jones, who allegedly attempted to flip the 2020 election results through an alternate slate of electors.
“It hasn’t been reassigned yet. I don’t know that there are many other prosecutors in the state of Georgia that would want to take on this case, that have the resources, the expertise. Um, and so, this, you know, could be sort of death by a thousand cuts for, for this case,” Polisi added.