All Eyes on Judge Scott McAfee

Judge Scott McAfee

Now that the final arguments have been made in the Fulton County court hearing regarding the possible dismissal of DA Fani Willis and lead prosecutor Nathan Wade from the Trump et al case, Judge Scott McAfee has advised that a decision will be coming in about two weeks.

McAfee must rule on whether justice can be served by having Willis, Wade, and the Fulton County DA's office prosecute this case under such a cloud. In my opinion, there is a conflict of interest here or at the very least,  the appearance of a conflict. There may also be criminal conduct involved if Willis and Wade were using the extravagant funds being paid by Willis' office to Wade (more than $600,000) to travel to exotic places together. If, in fact, Willis and Wade were in a relationship when she hired him to be the lead prosecutor, that is clearly unethical at best. If they, in fact, committed perjury in Judge McAfee's court about when they began the affair, it should be game over. All that would be left is criminal charges against them, as well as possibly Terrence Bradley, whose own testimony was not very credible.

So what will Judge McAfee decide? Checking into his background, it appears he is a Republican who was appointed to the bench by Governor Brian Kemp (R). He was a prosecutor himself in the Fulton County DA's office and worked on a team headed by Willis before she became the DA. But political background should not be a factor in his decision, one way or another. (I say should.) 

It is my feeling that the judge wasn't buying the testimonies of Willis, Wade, or Bradley. While I am no lawyer, I am a veteran of the courtroom in terms of my law enforcement background. I didn't buy their stories and was appalled at how they conducted themselves on the stand. It was embarrassing. Watching Willis, in particular, was like watching one of those absurd daytime courtroom shows. In addition, McAfee struck me as a serious, no-nonsense judge who understands very clearly how serious the allegations are being leveled against Willis and Wade.  

What we expect from any judge is impartiality and the determination to rule according to the law and the evidence regardless of public pressure. One could argue that whatever he rules, he will be accused of favoritism by the losing side and lauded for his courage by the winning side. McAfee may be Republican, but he obviously has longstanding roots in the Fulton County legal community, including the DA's office and Willis herself.

Alan Dershowitz has stated that while he thinks both Willis and Wade should be removed, his prediction is that only Wade will be booted.  In my humble opinion, it doesn't make sense to remove one but not the other, but I obviously don't have Dershowitz's legal credentials.

The bottom line is that everything about this prosecution stinks and only contributes to the widespread perception that Donald Trump is being railroaded in multiple jurisdictions by multiple prosecutors who appear to have an axe to grind. The Georgia case should be dismissed altogether. At the very least, it should be taken out of the hands of the Fulton County DA's office. We await Judge McAfee's ruling with bated breath.