A judge ruled in Georgia that Fani Willis can continue on the Trump case only if her associate, Wade, is removed from it.

this is over outside the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia as we did. cover this breaking news over the past. uh little bit here as the news started to come in that we got that ruling from a judge. in, Georgia and it does sound like the ruling says that it’s either going to be Willis or Wade, essentially Willis can stay on the case if Wade is off the case. I do want to bring in um an expert here to help break all of this down for us mark General is a criminal defense attorney. Thank you so much for taking the time to be here with us today. Sure. Good morning. Happy to be here. Of course. Well first off before we talk about the actual decision itself. Can you break down for me? the basis for this case and what led up to this point right here? Well, yeah, I mean you have a DA who? apparently hired her. unqualified. boyfriend to supervise. an incredibly complex criminal case and in which she is in charge. of having him paid an extraordinary. sum of money It turns out that they have a romantic relationship. and some of the defendants produced evidence that Wade was then using some money for him to uh provide gifts and vacations and whatnot for uh Willis which certainly gives rise at a minimum gives the court found in appearance of an impropriety of of a conflict of interest, but apparently what the judge found was that it did not create an actual conflict of interest as required. under, Georgia law because the amounts were small, but but certainly in any event. uh to say that this has been a disastrous week for the credibility of the Fulton County DA is certainly an understatement They look terrible. And I I want to talk about the hearings itself beca use we were playing them we heard of course from fee Willis herself. What stood out to you about? the hearing from? Willis’s testimony to the arguments on both sides. Well her testimony. struck me and I think many others who who do this for a living is beyond belief. uh her demeanor was terrible. um there was evidence that certainly contradicted what she said and I think a reasonable person might find she even purged herself as well. as Wade, So I mean if this is the person who’s in charge, of Prosecuting, uh, 1 of the most high-profile criminal cases, in the country now and in the past several decades, you know, that’s problematic so, factoring all of this in factoring in the judge’s decision, which did criticize her and even said there could be other. issues that arise for her such as ethical issues. professional. discipline whatnot. Um, it’s just she looks awful. in all of this and we all know it’s going to happen. Wade is going to get tossed overboard and Willis will will stay on but I mean again her credibility is so damaged this is going to be political gold for Trump. Certainly, although they may be disappointed in what the judge did. So is it possible that she is still? removed from the case after all is said and done? Uh, I don’t see her removing herself. I mean at this point. it seems clear cle ar that judge has set a pathway for 1 of you has to go. and I think Wade will be the will allow her. to say I’m not the 1 to go. the other reality is many have said that Wade was never qualified from the beginning to be here. So it’s in you know in terms of what the judge decided. It’s an easy decision The problem is that Willis’s credibility has been kneecapped and the the more she stays on the case, you know, this is now part of the rec ord people are aware of it. and her credibility has been damaged The credibility of her office has been damaged. uh this follows a few days after counts of the indictment were dismissed because they failed to prevent sufficient evidence, which is almost unheard of for prosecutors to when they bring charges to. improperly produced the right amount of evidence before a grand jury. That’s embarrassing. So I mean this whole thing the past week for her has been terrible. Can you tell me a little bit about the judge in this case we? saw him quite a bit there as we were watching these hearings play out. What do we know about the judge overall? Well, it’s he’s young. Uh, I think he’s in his mid 30s and his been a judge. for about a year. and certainly it it’s I mean look, I don’t know how the cases are assigned. to judges. in the state of, Georgia, but the reality is this is 1 of the most impo rtant. and high-profile criminal cases. It’s extraordinarily complex and you it has remarkably these issues like that have been decided that are certainly everybody’s following to be in the hands of someone that young is, uh, that’s kind of rare. So um, you know, there may be criticism. by some for that that he might have been young to handle something like this and I think some were critical uh, for example during the testimony when you saw Willis trying to kind of take over. uh from the witness stand which of course should never happen,but he was put a a very difficult situation but I mean, he certainly seems qualified but certainly Young and the decision is going to be 1 of these decisions against splitting the baby. that will please nobody. Um as is often the case and Will probably subject him to criticism as well. What impact would removing Willis have had on the Trump election interference case We know at this point it appears unlikely that she’s going to remove. herself instead removing Wade, but what sort of impact would that have had on this case in general if that had been? how this is played out? well the first thing that’s important is that if Willis had been removed by the court or if she ultimately decides to step aside. that does not result in the dismissal of the case or the indictment and peopl e need to realize that what would happen is a new what would have to be assigned by some agency that exists. in, Georgia And so that has 2 practical. components to it. The first is there would be extraordinary. delay. extraordinary delay. Excuse me. obviously. if the da and her office are removed from the case. just the logistics of somebody else getting involved getting up to speed and understanding what they’re reviewing. would take severa l months at a minimum. the other uh, and perhaps even more serious issue that could arise Is that a new person coming in? and taking a fresh look may have a different view of the case. In fact they could theoretically decide that there is no case. It doesn’t Merit prosecution and that could ultimately result. if she were gone from the case in the case ultimately. collapsing entirely. But again it seems clear that at least for now. she will sta y on Uh, she will be criticized. her office will be criticized. and in the case has less credibility today than it did yesterday than it did last week and they’ll just continue onward but you know the Trump people should be pretty satisfied with this. when we talk about this ruling specifically by the judge. does it have any sort of impact on any of the other? cases against former president Trump?No, not legally. I mean legally Trump. in you know a hell of a mess he has 4 trials in 4 different jurisdictions. and he needs to go 4 for 4. if if he wants to come out of this unscathed and and 1 in a in a legal sense has nothing to do with the other I think. the relationship. between these cases that could benefit him. again is the The credibility of the people bringing the case and and the political component of it. So I think that clear ly what’s happening in, Georgia helps him politically. and it helps him make his generalized argument that I’m being persecuted because I’m Trump and everyone is out to get me. and it certainly will strengthen. those types of arguments that you know, he makes with respect to all of these criminal cases. but in terms of the evidence against him whether it be in the federal cases or or the other state case in New York um, it won’t have any impact in that sense. is there any correlation between some of those charges being? dropped or dismissed I should say against Trump in the election interference case the same week as this decision is made. is there any sort of correlation there? No, I think. there are 2, uh distinct issues that came up involving the same case and it just it it illustrates. The credibility and the problems with with the, Georgia case. I mean, it’s almost unheard o f as I said earlier to have. uh, counts in a case like this for an investigation this long thrown out for a lack of evidence before the grand jury. and to have that followed immediately by a judge criticizing. uh, the district attorney and telling her it’s you or your ex-boyfriend that you hired. to supervise the case has to go uh again, it’s disastrous. They’re not directly related. Uh, I don’t think 1 has legally. anything to do with the other. or you know in terms of having an impact on the case, but I think when you take a step back and look at the whole Mosaic it just shows you that the, Georgia case is a mess. Is this the outcome that you would have expected just based on what we saw during those hearings and the information that’s been provided? Did you think? when this decision came down it would be uh you or him kind of deal? no, um I think I mean I underst and. what what the judge is trying to do. Um, you know, apparently again, in in, Georgia. the requirement is an actual conflict of interest as opposed to other jurisdictions where it’s the appearance. the appearance is clearly established.