Fani Willis' future decided in Trump extortion case: Judge McAfee announces he will rule in the next two weeks

The judge handling the extortion proceedings against former President Trump and 18 other co-defendants, Scott McAfee, announced this Friday that he will rule in the next two weeks on whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will leave the case due to an inappropriate romantic relationship with a high-ranking prosecutor.

After several days of important testimony, McAfee heard closing arguments from the defense and the prosecution on whether Willis’s relationship with special counsel Nathan Wade amounts to a “real” conflict of interest that should force them to drop the case against former President Trump.

The case was proceeding according to plan until the beginning of the year when several co-defendants, including Michael Roman, denounced Willis for hiring special prosecutor Wade while they had allegedly been in a romantic relationship since 2019.

Roman’s accusation was joined not only by several co-defendants but also by former President Trump’s legal team, who together argued that Willis benefited from Wade’s state salary through lavish vacations they took together. This action would constitute a conflict of interest serious enough to remove both prosecutors from the case.

However, Willis and Wade have denied the allegations, stating that their romantic relationship began after Wade was hired in 2021 and arose from the case itself.

Meanwhile, regarding the accusation related to misuse of resources, Willis stated in her testimony in court that she reimbursed Wade in cash for all the money he spent during the luxurious trips.

One of the critical gray areas of the case is that there are no receipts for these refunds since they were in cash. It is also proving challenging to determine exactly when the relationship between Willis and Wade began since key witnesses, such as a “former friend” of Willis, stated that the relationship started in 2019.

While the situation is being defined, lawyers for Trump and his co-defendants are pushing for Willis to be removed from the case, arguing that if Judge McAfee does not make the decision, public confidence in the trial will be destroyed.

“Think of the message that would be sent if they were not disqualified,” said Harry MacDougald, who represents former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, one of the co-defendants. “If this is tolerated, we will get more of it. This office is a global laughingstock because of their conduct.”

In turn, Willis’ office accuses defense attorneys of wanting to manipulate public opinion through conjecture and false allegations.

Willis’ office argued that the defendants did not provide any evidence about the district attorney’s financial benefit from her relationship with Wade, which supposedly ended last summer.

“It’s a desperate attempt to remove a prosecutor from a case for absolutely no reason, your honor, other than harassment and embarrassment,” said Adam Abbate, a prosecutor with the district attorney’s office.

The only sure thing, so far, is that Willis’s future will be defined in the coming days and that Judge McAfee will have to decide whether there is an actual conflict of interest or not.