Judge's Private Meeting in Fani Willis Case Could Help Sway Decision

Judge Scott McAfee's private meeting with a key witness could decide whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will be allowed to continue prosecuting Donald Trump in Georgia's election interference case.

Atlanta-based defense lawyer Noah Pines told Newsweek that he doesn't expect Willis to be disqualified, based on what he's seen in the case so far. But that the outcome could change "if additional evidence is presented" to McAfee in the closed-door meeting with Terrence Bradley, a friend and former law partner of Willis' special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

Last month, court filings seeking to disqualify Willis and Wade from the sweeping Georgia case, which accuses Trump and 18 co-defendants of seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, revealed that the two prosecutors were in a "personal relationship." Willis has since confirmed the romantic relationship with Wade, whom she hired to help prosecute the case.

"I know that judge needs to hear from Mr. Bradley ex parte regarding the privilege issues. Once that happens, I think there will be additional argument," Pines said.

McAfee, a Superior Court judge in Fulton County, agreed during last Friday's public hearing to meet with Bradley in private after attorney-client privilege took center stage in the matter. Bradley took the stand in last week's disqualification hearing and was described as a "star witness" in the efforts to disqualify Willis, but both his counsel and the state's repeatedly invoked that privilege, obscuring most of the specifics in the matter.

The judge ultimately decided to meet with Bradley "ex parte in camera," which means the witness will provide testimony in a closed-door meeting to discuss communications.

"Judge McAfee will be very careful and deliberate in his ruling," Atlanta-based attorney Richard Lawson told Newsweek. "The attorneys still have to do their summaries of the evidence and law, and Mr. Bradley could be recalled to testify if the judge finds some of what he may know is not covered by the privilege."

Lawson said Willis would be disqualified only if the evidence before McAfee shows that the district attorney committed perjury or that her relationship with Wade began before his appointment to the Trump case. The judge's decision could come as early as the second week of March, Lawson added.

Pines said the misconduct allegations present an "interesting case" because the facts of the case aren't in dispute. Rather, what's in question is whether those facts are enough to constitute a violation of Georgia's racketeering law, which is at the heart of the indictment against Trump and the co-defendants. So undermining the credibility of the government (i.e., Willis) may not be as powerful in this instance, compared with a case where, for example, the accusations hinge on testimony from a police officer, Pines said.

If Willis is disqualified from the case, another district attorney or state Attorney General Christopher Carr, a Republican, could take over the prosecution. But Pines said he doesn't believe a change of hands would do much to change public opinion of the case, in the same way that many Trump supporters have continued to rally behind the former president despite his four criminal indictments.

Lawson also said that a decision on the Willis matter won't have much impact on the actual trial since she's unlikely to be the person presenting the evidence to the jury on a day-to-day basis.

"The focus will be on the prosecutors, defense attorneys and defendants in the room," he said.

"I don't think that the accusations against DA Willis will ultimately have much effect on the jury chosen to hear the case," Lawson added. "The only way these accusations will matter is if Judge McAfee decides there is sufficient cause to remove DA Willis from the case."