Legal AF by MeidasTouch - Attack on Prosecutor BACKFIRES for Trump Co-Defendants

Episode Date: March 8, 2024

The Fulton County Ethics Commitee hearing and investigation under Fulton County DA Fani Willis has been cancelled when they finally figured out they DO NOT HAVE JURISDICTION over any DAs as constitutional officers. Michael Popok explains the difference between a bar investigation and the ethics’ group’s powers and why another lawyer for a Trump co defendant has a REAL ETHICS PROBLEM after making statements against Fani outside the court proceedings. Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to https://TryMiracle.com/LEGALAF and use the code LEGALAF to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF. Visit https://meidastouch.com for more! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown Lights On with Jessica Denson: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/lights-on-with-jessica-denson On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Popak, legal AF, the soap opera that has become weather of Fawney Willis Fulton County District Attorney And her special prosecutor Nathan Wade will be removed from the prosecution of Donald Trump took another turn today It's spun off into all of these different permutations We have the main heart of the matter being considered by judge McAfee the Fulton County criminal court judge who after hearing days of evidence and four sessions for hearings and evidentiary hearings and hearing oral argument will now decide whether he's going to apply the standard of the other side having the burden of proving an actual conflict of interest, not a perceived one, not a conjectural one,

not a speculative one, but an actual one that's proven in a court of law, or he's gonna go down a different route and try to argue that she should be disqualified because of an appearance of impropriety or that the prosecution, in this case, of Donald Trump and others shouldn't be burdened with the public expectations or the

public belief that perhaps Fony Willis has done something wrong with public money. That is the main matter. We're waiting. It should be sometime later next week when Judge McAfee will rule and we'll be able to report it here on the Midas Touch Network. In the meantime, you've probably seen reporting, including here on the Midas Touch Network, of the lawyers representing Mike Roman, one of the indicted co-conspirators with Donald Trump, Ashley Merchant, giving testimony to Republican MAGA GOP leaders in Georgia. God, this sounds exactly like the ironies I know is lost on people like Ashley Merchant, but it sounds exactly like the trumped up

phony hearings that Donald Trump and his henchmen tried to conduct in order to cling to power with Rudy Giuliani leading the way. Except Rudy Giuliani is tied up right now with having his bar license yanked and having a hundred and forty million dollar judgment issued against him for defaming two election workers in Georgia. But Ashley Merchant takes the bait and decides that she's going to allow herself to be the pawn of the MAGA GOP and try to answer questions

about what she thinks the evidence will show, which by the way, I think is a possible violation of the rules of professional conduct and responsibility that lawyers have to be bound by in ethics. I mean the issue is before a judge right now. And these are extrajudicial statements that I think could be interpreted as trying to improperly influence the outcome and put pressure on a judge outside of the four walls of the courtroom. So, you know, I think one thing, if we're talking about ethics violations,

we've got Ashley Merchant. But in addition to her potentially violating her own oath, in trying to pressure improperly Judge McAfee to make the ruling that she wants by giving this kind of testimony before MAGA right-wingers. Now we've got an oversight board, an ethics oversight board in Fulton County that on two complaints filed, one by a MAGA right-wing podcaster and the other one by a local MAGA GOP decided to open an ethics investigation as to whether Fawnie Willis committed some sort of ethical breach or crime

by paying a Nathan Wade for work performed and perhaps sharing a meal or a trip with him while he was special prosecutor. Today was supposed to be the day that this board in Fulton County, an ethics watchdog and the Fulton County Board of Ethics was supposed to open up their hearing, except I guess they did some research and figured out they don't have jurisdiction over a constitutional officer, somebody elected under the Constitution of the state of Georgia, like the Fulton County district attorney. And without jurisdiction, this kangaroo court decided that they couldn't even open.

Now, I know some of the press is saying, well, Fondie Wells dodged a bullet today when the Fulton County Ethics Department Ethics Committee decided that they did not have jurisdiction. I don't know if that's dodging a bullet. She should never have been there. You know, I, you know, I get why these complaints have been filed by Maga right wing. First one filed by a Fulton County resident, Steve Kramer, who cites the relationship between Fony Willis and Nathan Wade and, and why he was hired. But then you've got this other ethics charge that was also brought by a right-wing podcaster,

Greg Mantell, who on his sub-stack post claims without any authority or any proper analysis that Fondie Willis violated, six sections of the Fulton County ethics code, an ethics code to which she is not bound. Now look, is there a place if people have a complaint against Fonny Willis? Sure, she's a bar member, she holds a bar license.

There's a Georgia bar. There's a time and a place to make a complaint. And I know that Marjorie Taylor Greene, a representative in Congress from a small part of Northern Georgia was whooping and hollering about Fawni Willis in front of the Fulton County Ethics Board where the Ethics Board doesn't have any jurisdiction over Fawni Willis.

Did you know that your temperature at night can have one of the greatest impacts on your sleep quality? If you wake up too hot or too cold, I highly recommend you check out Miracle Maid's bedsheets. Inspired by NASA, Miracle Maid uses silver-infused fabrics and makes temperature regulating bedding so you can sleep at the perfect temperature all night long. Using silver-infused fabrics originally inspired by NASA, Miracle-Made sheets are thermoregulating and designed to keep you at the perfect temperature all night long, so you get better sleep every night. These sheets are infused with silver that prevent up to 99.7% of bacterial growth, leaving them

to stay cleaner and fresher three times longer than other sheets. No more gross odors. Miracle sheets are luxuriously comfortable without the high price tag of other luxury brands. And feel as nice if not nicer than bent sheets used by some five-star hotels. Stop sleeping on bacteria. Bacteria can clog your pores, causing breakouts and acne.

Sleep clean with Miracle. Go to Trimerical.com slash Legal AF to try Miracle Made Sheets today and whether you're buying them for yourself or as a gift for a loved one. If you order today, you can save over 40%. And if you use our promo Legal AF at checkout, you'll get three free towels and save an extra 20%. Miracle is so confident in their product, it's back the 30 day money back guarantee. And if you're not 100% satisfied, you'll get a full refund.

Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made. Go to trymiracle.com slash legal AF and use the code legal AF to claim your free three piece towel set and save over 40%. Again, that's trymiracle.com slash legal AF to treat yourself. Thank you, Miracle Made for sponsoring this episode. Bar investigations are different.

I can speak to you now as a lawyer here on legal AF. Bar investigations are confidential until the results are made. They're generally not public hearings. I mean, it can result in a public hearing, but it generally does not. There's a two or three bar, there's a bar investigator, there's a bar body that serves as a judge, then the person who's the lawyer has the right to an attorney. So you have a kind of a prosecuting attorney on one side

for the bar of the state. You've got the lawyer that's representing the the bar licensee on the other side and they're fighting over what type, whether there's been any violation of the code of professional responsibility in that particular state. It's an actual code book. And if so, what should be the punishment or penalty? And it can range from a finding of no violation to a warning, a reprimand, a suspension of the license, meaning you can't practice law during that time period, remedial programs that the person has to undergo. Suppose they have a drug or alcohol addiction, then it

would be counseling. Suppose they've got a debt problem, then debt counseling. It just depends on, you know, it's bespoke and fits the punishment, so to speak, all the way up to permanent disbarment or a disbarment for a period of time. But that all happens through the bar. That is the only, besides, you know, that is the only body that can regulate in the area of the ethics of a lawyer. Now, if you're talking about the ethics of a prosecutor, there is a prosecution council

that is ultimately responsible, for instance, if on the off chance that Fawnie Willis and Nathan Wade are removed as prosecutors, it's the Prosecutors Council of Georgia, which is bipartisan, not the governor, not the judge that determines who's the next prosecutor. And you can make a complaint to them as well, related to prosecutorial misconduct. But generally, that's handled through the Georgia bar, perhaps a referral by the judge, not the Fulton County Ethics you know, committee. I could have told you that before they even decided to put that on the agenda

for today and then quickly canceled it when the lawyers, I guess, because every one of these committees has a general counsel or a lawyer that's a sign that makes sure that they don't get in trouble and don't do things that are wrong under Georgia law, told them, you don't have a jurisdiction over Fonnie Willis. And so they rightly canceled that hearing. Look, we'll continue to follow everything that happens with Fonnie Willis and Nathan Wake, because it's important. And as we've said on legal AF before,

if she did something wrong in violation of Georgia law, ethics has a conflict and it's proven that the only reason that she is possibly prosecuting Donald Trump through an indictment from a grand jury is to give her boyfriend some cash. I'd be the first one to line up and have her removed and run out of town on a rail. It just haven't seen any of the evidence and we watched it carefully because it was all on YouTube and all on the Midas Touch Network. We saw all four hearings. We saw all the evidence. We've seen the text messages.

We know what happened and the receipts and the cash that was used. It's just, I mean, that it was highly detailed. Doesn't mean it proves the point or proves the actual conflict necessary. And I think that's where that judge, McPhee, has to end up. Actual conflict and don't slide into the lesser standard of an appearance of impropriety. Look, we all might be scrunching up our nose, having to hear about Fonny Welles' dating life when she's not prosecuting bad guys like Donald Trump. Sure. If I had a magic wand, would I like there not to be this

issue and her to have dated somebody else? Yes. But look, for a guy who married his wife that he met at work, I get it. I mean, we didn't have the same problems as outlined here. But do I need to know about Nathan Weed's divorce and how these two went away and where they went and who spent what and, you know, who's a misogynist and Nathan Wade and who constantly fought over, you know, a man and his money? Yeah, I mean, it made for, you know, I almost said, unwatchable, fascinating television, if you're into that sort of thing. But if you're into law, justice, and politics,

like we hear on legal AF, it should be much ado about nothing because it's not the appearance of impropriety standard that should be applied. It's the actual conflict standard and the evidence doesn't support any of that. We'll know more next week. We'll bring it to you on the midweek

or end of the week edition of Legal AF right here on the Midas Touch Network Help them get to three million free subscribers. They're already well over two million They'll get there before election day But only with your help and then you can follow me Michael Popak on legal AF Wednesdays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Is eastern time and then a hot takes just like this one You like this kind of hot take getting this kind of update and analysis without blowing smoke or sunshine, you've come to the right place. Give me a thumbs up, leave a comment. It's not like cable news. The ratings aren't just

your eyeballs. You have to actually interact. And we invite you to interact with the content, with the channel here, in order for it to register as to the algorithmic gods and keep us on the air. So until my next hot take, until my next legal AF, this is Michael Popak reporting. Love this video? Make sure you stay up to date on the latest breaking news and all things Midas by signing up to the Midas Touch newsletter

at MidasTouch.com slash newsletter.