This juicy legal ethics scandal is churning in the conservative media while the left side of our corrupt journalism is clearly going to slow walk it as along as possible or until the facts evaporate. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the story first: The Democrat district attorney prosecuting Donald Trump over his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, Fani Willis, may have engaged in egregiously unethical conduct in prosecuting the case.
[A] motion, filed Monday by Trump co-defendant Michael Roman, alleged that Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade “have been engaged in an improper, clandestine personal relationship during the pendency of this case.” It also contended that Wade had paid for lavish vacations that he and Willis took with the money his law office was paid for his work on the election interference case.
Though this is right up the Ethics Alarms alley as a legal ethics story, I hesitated to post on it until the facts were verified by a neutral and reliable source. They haven’t been. Frankly, it is difficult for me to believe that Willis or any prosecutor could do something so stupid in any matter, but especially in such a high profile case.
Today even more mind-boggling allegations came out. On November 18, 2022, records supposedly show that Joe Biden’s White House held an 8-hour meeting with Nathan Wade, Fani Willis’s lead prosecutor investigating Donald Trump. Wade is also Willis’s alleged paramour. That was also the day Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith as the Special Counsel investigating Donald Trump. Wade apparently billed to Georgia $2,000 for the time he spent in the White House, which can only be justified if the meeting involved prosecuting President Biden’s leading political opponent. “Is the Biden White House coordinating the prosecution of Donald Trump?,” one conservative pundit asked.
Again, this would be so mind-blowingly stupid on the part of both Biden and Wade that I hesitate to believe the story.
Willis’s and Wade’s alleged conduct would trigger disbarment and maybe criminal charges if true. The Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, like the ABA Model Rules and every state’s equivalent, requires a prosecutor, indeed any lawyer, to maintain “independent judgment.” Fulton County government officials like Willis are to be “in fact and in appearance, independent and impartial in the performance of their official duties. . . that there be public confidence in the integrity of the county.” Georgia prosecutors also take this oath:
“I do swear that I will faithfully and impartially and without fear, favor, or affection discharge my duties as district attorney and will take only my lawful compensation. So help me God.”
Stephen Gillers, perhaps the one legal ethics expert who qualifies as “famous” (unlike pathetic non-entities like me) opined that if the allegations are true, “Willis was conflicted in the investigation and prosecution of this case” and did not deliver the “independent professional judgment” her position as District Attorney requires. Duh. Going out on a limb there, are you, Steve? If the accusations are true, Willis broke the ethics rules by appointing her lover as Special Prosecutor. Wade has received “almost $1,000,000.00 in legal fees” from Fulton County, the court filing claims, substantially exceeding the compensation for any other Georgia State or County prosecutor. Those funds, in turn, were–again allegedly—used to pay for trips and vacations enjoyed by Willis as well as Wade.
Yikes.
As for the White House, any indications that the President or his staff has been coordinating with any of the Trump prosecutions raise the rebuttable presumption that the Democrats are behind all of them, and that far from representing the principle that “no one is above the law,” these cases are what Trump and his allies have claimed all along: a third world-style, totalitarian effort by a party in power to use the courts to remove a challenge to its supremacy….while it is braying about Trump being a threat to democracy.
Are the Democrats really so incompetent Machiavellians as to reveal their corruption this way? Is that possible? Keep in mind that filing an official document with a court that is false could get the filing lawyers in deep trouble.
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Sources: Technofog, Newsweek, Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Federalist
Ethics Alarms 
Here’s the pair. I will say, he’s got a stronger stomach than I.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GDW-KSrakAAGvpN?format=jpg&name=small
I don’t think a DA—or her appointed SP— should even allow a photo like that: it inherently raises an appearance of impropriety. She may well be an idiot. He as well…
Respectfully you’re mistaken that is Fani Willis with the ATL mayor Andre Dickens
Arrrghhh, It looks like you’re right, thanks. I should have been as skeptical of initial info as Jack was.
The local (non-conservative) newspaper IS reporting on the basic story, though citing a lesser amount of payments to Wade.
https://www.ajc.com/politics/breaking-filing-alleges-improper-relationship-between-fulton-da-top-trump-prosecutor/A2N2OWCM7FFWJBQH2ORAK2BKMQ/
Welcome to my world…
Yes, they really are. They know the media will cover for them and that Americans have the attention spans of fruit flies.
“Are the Democrats really so incompetent Machiavellians as to reveal their corruption this way? ”
From all I’ve seen, it is definitely possible. They just don’t seem to think through the long term consequences of their actions — only what will serve their immediate goals.
It is baffling at times, to be honest.
“Are the Democrats really so incompetent Machiavellians as to reveal their corruption this way?”
Yes, but also: hubris. This is like so many other cases where people who should be suffering from a crippling case of imposter syndrome are thrust into the limelight: They think that they’re untouchable. They think the rules are for little people. They think the media is complicit. They think their friends will circle the wagons. And for the most part: They’re right…. Right up until they go too far.
You would think that the built in magnifying glass that comes with injecting yourself into national politics involving Trump would cause someone to think twice, at least for a season or two, about their corruption, but it’s worked for them for so long, why would they change now?
Is it plausible that Wallis/Wade/Biden would be that stupid and unethical?
Is it plausible that a MAGA defendant, backed into a corner, would start recklessly hurling spurious allegations to cloud the waters?
Is it possible the Atlanta Journal-Constitution would massage the story to make it sexier?
The answer to all of these questions is “Duh. Of course. Pass the popcorn.”
Funny: I almost used the popcorn graphic for the post.
I’d just say that the likelihood of the AJC getting a story WRONG is far more likely than them deliberately massaging it to the disadvantage of the democrats.