CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig argued the judge’s “ugly” ruling in the disqualification case is “pretty close to the best” ruling Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could have asked for.
Judge Scott McAfee ruled Willis can remain on the election fraud case in which former President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants are facing charges relating to their alleged attempt to overthrow the 2020 election in Georgia. He ruled the defendants of the case “failed to meet their burden of proving that the District Attorney acquired an actual conflict of interest” through her relationship with fellow prosecutor Nathan Wade.
“Is this? This isn’t the best that — this isn’t the best ruling that Fani Willis could have gotten. Or is this the best ruling?” CNN host Kate Bolduan asked.
“It’s pretty close to the best,” Honig replied.
“I just want to make sure that we’re making clear to people here,” host John Berman said.
“Yeah. If I am the DA, I am breathing a heavy sigh of relief right now because this language, yet we will see it in the media and maybe the jury pool will see it,” Honig continued. “You can filter that out later, but they have survived. Your goal here is to survive and carry on with the case. I mean, this ruling is ugly. I mean, it is, if I’m the DA, I’m reading this ruling, I’m breathing a sigh of relief, but I’m also cringing at some of the language the judge has put out there.”
Honig said Willis has faced “some stark damage” from the case, citing McAfee scolding her for publicly making inappropriate remarks about the case. The judge noted that the record “highlights a significant appearance of impropriety,” and stated Wade must recuse himself from the case or Willis’ office can step aside to solve the problem. (RELATED: ‘Embarrassing’: Elie Honig Deems Judge’s Move To Toss Six Trump Counts ‘Undeniable Setback’)
“Here’s what could’ve been worse, Kate, here’s what it could have been slightly better. The judge said ‘I find no impropriety here. I find the defendants entirely unconvincing,” Honig said. “They failed to carry on their burden. Carry on with the case. The judge has not done that, he has found — I wouldn’t say a midpoint, it’s not 50/50 — but he has given the defendants certain concessions.”
Trump’s co-defendant Michael Roman filed a Jan. 8 motion requesting that Willis be disqualified from the case over her relationship with Wade, in which he accused her of financially benefitting from the relationship through a lucrative contract.
Willis paid Wade $250 an hour while the other prosecutors, including a top racketeering expert, earned $200 an hour. Wade allegedly used the extra money to pay for luxury vacations the two reportedly went on together. Wade also filed for divorce from his wife the day after the contract with Willis began.
Willis falsely stated she paid all the special prosecutors on the case the same hourly rate as Wade, according to previous reporting published exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation. County records found that Wade’s firm received nearly $654,000 from Willis’ office since the start of 2022.
Watch Honig completely disregard testimony from key witnesses in Willis’ case:
Honig once Trump could win ballot removal case:
Honig says Hunter Biden could face prison time over gun charges:
Honig slammed the DOJ for the “unholy mess” of the Hunter Biden probe: