The Fani Gamble
The problem for the Atlanta judge
As many of you may know, a decision is expected Friday down in Atlanta regarding the escapades of Fani Willis and her former paramour, Nathan Wade.
Many in the media are straining hard to interpret the actions of the judge in dropping six of the charges earlier this week.
Here’s what else you should know.
As we’ve discussed in this space, and on video over at The Ops Desk website, Judge Scott McAfee is in something of a conundrum (hey Scott, you took the job…). He is an elected official, in Atlanta, and doesn’t want to alienate an entire swath of voters. This could suggest he would let Fani and Wade remain as the leaders of the prosecution against Donald Trump and his remaining 14 co-defendants.
This would certainly be the easier option for McAfee. It would be less controversial for that electorate, and the national media would of course run interference for Willis and Wade (as the case is against the left’s Thanos, Donald Trump).
But… there are obstacles:
The Georgia Senate has opened its own investigation. And as we’ve pointed out, they have subpoena power and could well get to the content of the text messages that Willis and Wade reportedly exchanged prior to Willis hiring Wade.
At this point, the fact that Willis and Wade had 12,000 contacts — 10,000 of them, text messages — in the period of 2021 before Willis hired Wade means that the Georgia Senate could well produce incontrovertible evidence that the relationship began before the hiring. This would make Willis and Wade guilty of perjury and various Georgia obstruction charges, as they have denied this under oath.
Were the judge to exonerate the two, and the Georgia Senate later develops this evidence (which I deem likely), the judge would be in the position of not only looking foolish — but of having to re-assess his decision. As in: pulling them both off the case and referring them for felony charges. Ouch.
Governor Kemp of Georgia could also appoint a special prosecutor, who would have subpoena and search warrant powers. While Kemp is no fan of Donald Trump, he is in the end a Republican. Further, this case is a galloping embarassment to his state (and the nation). He has the power to rein it in by also obtaining the contents of the text messages.
The Georgia State Attorney General, Chris Carr, could do the same. Georgia AG is an elected position, and as such can make a decision independent of the Governor. So even if Kemp doesn’t move on this — Carr could. For an ambitious AG — and is there any other kind? — it would be a smart political move.
Recall that “impropriety” by Willis and Wade isn’t even the standard the judge has to use here — it’s the appearance of impropriety. While that is apparently a vague term under Georgia case law, any normal reading would indicate that we are well over the bar for “apparent” misconduct by this dynamic duo of jurisprudence.
Finally, it’s just the correct move, legally. In any other circumstance, Willis and Wade would already have been removed, and likely referred for investigation by the state bar. Recall that in addition to the apparent financial skullduggery here (over $600,000 paid by Willis to Wade (the latter of whom had never tried a felony case), Willis blurted out under oath that she keeps cash from a prior campaign in her closet.
What a brilliant move by the top prosecutor in the county.
If Judge McAffee ever wants to be taken seriously again — they’ve got to go.
Whether he allows the case to remain under the jurisdiction of the Fulton County District Attorney’s office is another issue (I frankly don’t see how he can). But at the least, for the integrity of our legal system: Willis and Wade have to go.
And yes — the investigation of them should then continue.
Someone, for God’s sake: just pull the text messages. They’re undoubtedly retrievable.
End this farce.
Hey, Was That Gunshots…?
So the below video (click on the image to go to it) is all over social media, and apparently shows a tussle between two men on the NYC subway — resulting in the shooting of a man with his own gun.
Getting beyond the facile, “hey, where is Daniel Penny when we need him?” commentary, here’s some context for the subways these days:
The NYPD is short thousands of cops, due to the anti-police atmosphere that pervades New York and pretty much all of our blue cities. As a result, there are now mandatory overtime shifts for non-transit cops to try to flood the zone, as well as voluntary shifts, daily.
This is tremendously expensive — and will continue to be (this OT is “pensionable,” as the cops say; that is, it augments cops’ pensions). Now, more power to them; I begrudge no cop anywhere for making a better living. But the bottom line is that many of these officers are working round the clock. You can’t expect them to be alert and at their best.
Governor Kathy Hochul’s addition of 250 New York State Police also comes with a price tag — and limited efficacy. While her office has responded to my emails by stating that these officers have been deployed “at no additional cost” — the bottom line is that they must’ve been pulled from elsewhere. Meaning: somewhere in NYS, things are less safe than they were. And NYS Police — professional as they are — are not transit cops. They don’t know the system, and they don’t know the terrain. This is window dressing.
But for window dressing, nothing beats the 750 National Guard members that Hochul has deployed. Her office won’t respond to my questions regarding whether these Guard members were activated to full-time duty by Hochul — so you can be the judge of whether that means they’re now getting full-time pay. Further, as they are not cops and have no training or expertise in the laws and policies of police work — just as cops are not trained in the mission of the Guard — they are apparently there just to look in people’s bags. (Funny how the NYCLU doesn’t have a stroke over this version of stop-and-frisk when it’s instituted by a fellow progressive).
Now, I spent a lot of time in the subway today. I was all over town, including through Grand Central Station. I saw no Guard members. What I did see is broken MetroCard machines, token booths without attendants, automated announcements indicating the wrong station, and at least 1/4 of travelers walking in the out door without paying.
Hochul still won’t rescind the state’s “sanctuary” status — meaning New York still can’t communicate with the feds regarding illegal aliens. And as the Chief of Transit himself stated, there are migrant pickpocket and robbery crews working the NYC subways.
That said — you can’t entirely blame Hochul. Because we all know the feds in this administration wouldn’t be listening anyway.
Oh, and also: nobody stays locked up. While Alvin Bragg in Manhattan gets all the notoriety, NYC has four other District Attorneys. With the exception of Staten Island, they’ve all been trying to out-woke each other from the get-go.
It’s really not that hard — we know what works, because it’s worked before. Support the cops in their mission, rescind the panoply of laws designed to undermine them, and keep the genuine bad guys locked up so they can’t keep preying on people.
Oh — and rebuild, not retire, the Rikers Island jail. If it closes, we go down to half the prisoner beds from where we are now.
Half. You think things are bad now?
Laken Update
A short update on the homicide of Laken Riley, and her alleged killer, Jose Ibarra.
I’ll let the video speak for itself. Suffice to say — we’re not letting this one go, if we can help it. There are numerous questions remaining here.
This administration has much to answer for.
(Here, by the way, is the program under which Ibarra was likely admitted. Is anyone even attempting to verify these so-called “sponsors”?).
Unsurprising News Dept.
Via Bloomberg News:
Wow — wonder why?
And finally…
Please welcome the addition of A.F. Branco’s cartoons to The Ops Desk platform! We’re long-time admirers of his work — and his thinking.
Case in point:
As I said — this administration has much to answer for.
