Judge says it could be up to 2 weeks on decision over whether to remove Willis from election case

ATLANTA — It could be a couple of weeks before we will know whether or not Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will be removed from the Georgia election interference case or not.

Channel 2′s Michael Seiden was inside the courtroom Friday as prosecutors used closing arguments to deny that defense lawyers had proven their allegations that Willis used her affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade for personal gain.

The defense hit back, accusing Willis of lying to taxpayers.

“Prosecutors don’t act like this. Lawyers don’t act like this. These people, your honor, is a systematic misconduct and they need to go,” defense attorney Craig Gillen said.

“During the three days of extensive testimony of all of the witnesses, and the prolonged examinations of witnesses, multiple defense counsels, they still got nowhere. We are still in the same position we were in on Monday,” said Adam Abbate, with the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office.

RELATED NEWS:

• Text messages could have impact on judge’s decision whether to remove Fulton DA from election case
• ‘Star witness’ called to testify about relationship between DA Willis, prosecutor in election case
• Winery employee confirms Fulton DA Fani Willis paid cash on trip to Napa with special prosecutor
• ‘DA Fani Willis is not on trial’ Atlanta mayor weighs in on removal hearing
• ‘I’m not on trial!;’ Willis takes stand in hearing to disqualify her from election interference case

Each side had 90 minutes to present their argument and the defense didn’t waste any time attacking Willis’ credibility and character, accusing her of lying and covering up an inappropriate romantic relationship with Wade.

“Pay no attention to the airlines and to the flights, to the vacations, to the cruises. I paid him back in cash. Show us your receipts. Where did you take cash out of the bank? Ever? Oh, I don’t have any,” Gillen said.

But the attorney for the state called those claims false and argued that the appearance alone was not enough to disqualify her and that an underlying conflict of interest had to be established.

“In this instance, they have to show an actual conflict that Ms. Willis received a financial benefit or gain and got it based upon the outcome of the case. It doesn’t make any sense,” Abbate said.

After hearing their arguments,

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee told the courtroom that he hopes to make his decision within the next two weeks.

RELATED NEWS:

Text messages could have impact on judge’s decision whether to remove Fulton DA from election case Text messages appear to say one thing, while testimony tells a different story.

©2024 Cox Media Group