'Getting ugly': Ex-federal prosecutor urges Fani Willis to 'disqualify' herself from Trump case

On Thursday, February 15 in an Atlanta courtroom, Nathan Wade — a special prosecutor for the Fulton County District Attorney's office — testified about his romantic relationship with DA Fani Willis.

The hearing could determine whether or not Willis, in light of her relationship with Wade, should remain in charge of her election interference/RICO case against former President Donald Trump and a long list of allies.

When the court held an early afternoon recess, MSNBC brought on a legal panel to discuss the possible repercussions of Wade's testimony. And the legal analysts — including Katie Phang, defense attorney Caroline Polisi and former federal prosecutor Chuck Rosenberg — agreed that Willis' role as lead prosecutor in the case may be in danger.

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Rosenberg told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell, "This is not going well for the State (of Georgia)…. It might be appropriate for Ms. Willis to consider removing herself from this case now and turning the reins over to a senior official in the (Fulton County) District Attorney's Office and have him or her handle it. Because this is getting ugly, it's getting messy, and my guess is this will not get better."

Polisi said of Wade's testimony, "This has been a bombshell. It was sort of a slow burn, but if you parse the language: huge, huge issues here. I want to be really clear: This is not about a relationship between two consenting adults. This has nothing to do with that…. The issue is that her credibility is shot…. If she lied to the court, she submitted something to the court that she knew was false and inaccurate, what else was she lying about?"

Polisi continued, "It's a horrible, horrible look for her. I think this case is dead in the water. She will be disqualified. The case will then…. have to be reassigned to another prosecutor's office. Likely, it will languish there for months. I think it's over. I think the case is over."

Phang emphasized that if Willis steps down from the case against Trump, a whole new team may need to be put in place in order for the prosecution to continue.

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According to Phang, "It could rise to the level of disqualification …. If Fani Willis is disqualified, the whole team is gone."

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