Trump and His Cronies Underestimated Fani Willis

Only time will tell if the various criminal indictments of Donald Trump and his coup co-conspirators will lead to convictions and jail time.  While some charges - most notably the classified documents charges - appear  slam dunk, one never knows were court proceedings may lead.   One entertaining aspect of the charges and pending cases, for me, is that Trump - an open racist and male chauvinist with a decades long history of racist bigotry  - finds himself subject to black  judges and a black female prosecutor.  No doubt this only serves to further enrage the ever narcissistic Trump and his white supremacist minions and a large portion of the racist GOP party base.  The other sweet irony is that while Trump's lies and disinformation may play well with the lobotomized FOX News crowd, it runs into a brink wall in court proceedings where facts and objective reality continue to matter.  A column in the Washington Post looks at perhaps Trump's most hated adversary, Fulton County DA, Fani Willis who has put Trump and his accomplices in real danger of conviction and who Der Trumpenfuhrer has greatly under estimated.  Here are column highlights: 

Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis has been the target of right-wing venom and legal second-guessing. I was among those who doubted the wisdom of bringing a complex racketeering charge in Georgia, which complicated her opposition to one defendant’s attempt to move the case to federal court.

But consider what she has already accomplished. She indicted former president Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants. She got an Oct. 23 trial date for at least two defendants. And, at least at the district court level, she beat back former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows’s attempt to move his case to federal court (known as “removal”), eliciting an opinion that has grave implications for Trump. She compelled Meadows to admit under cross-examination that he was intimately involved in the phony elector plot and had no reason to believe the election was stolen.

Among her most effective arguments: the Hatch Act, which prohibits White House officials’ political conduct while on duty, means that Meadows’s admittedly campaign-related actions were outside the scope of his official duties.

When, over her objections, the special grand jury’s vote tallies for 39 people were released (a terrible injustice to those who were not charged), the public could see that rather than pursue every possible defendant, Willis exercised appropriate discretion.

She has been so effective that Georgia Republicans have been mulling a maneuver to remove her from office. Fortunately, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) rebuffed that effort forcefully. “The bottom line is that in the state of Georgia, as long as I’m governor, we’re going to follow the law and the Constitution, regardless of who it helps or harms politically,” he declared at a recent news conference. He added, “I have not seen any evidence that DA Willis’s actions or lack thereof warrant action by the prosecuting attorney oversight commission.”

Most recently, in a delightful slapdown of House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Willis penned a letter in response to his attempt to meddle in her case and force her to release the prosecution’s documents. She did not mince words: “There is no justification in the Constitution for Congress to interfere with a state criminal matter, as you attempt to do.” She retorted, “The demands in your letter — and your efforts at intruding upon the State of Georgia’s criminal authority — violate constitutional principles of federalism. Criminal prosecutions under state law are primarily the responsibility of state governments.”

Citing chapter and verse of federal precedent, Willis tersely informed him: “The defendants in this case have been charged under state law with committing state crimes. There is absolutely no support for Congress purporting to second guess or somehow supervise an ongoing Georgia criminal investigation and prosecution.” She told Jordan that “violation of Georgia’s sovereignty is offensive and will not stand” and “your demand for information regarding an ongoing criminal prosecution — a core executive function — is offensive to any notion of separation of powers that recognizes the distinct roles of the executive and legislative functions of government.”

Her letter deserves more attention. It serves as an effective takedown of many of Trump’s phony excuses and defenses. “The criminal defendant about which you express concern was fully aware of the existence of the criminal investigation being conducted by the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office at the time he announced his candidacy for President,” she reminded Jordan. “I have no doubt that many Americans are the subject of criminal investigations and prosecutions at any given moment.” Trump’s whining notwithstanding, she knocked down the notion that running for office can spare one from criminal investigation and prosecution. “Any notion to the contrary is offensive to our democracy and to the fundamental principle that all people are equal before the law.”

She concluded by pointing to “the racist threats that have come to my staff and me because of this investigation” and vowing to “keep the promise of my oath to the United States and Georgia Constitutions and … not allow myself to be bullied and threatened by Members of Congress, local elected officials, or others who believe lady justice should not be blind and that America has different laws for different citizens.”

Willis still faces a host of challenges. Having charged 19 people, she faces the prospect of a single ungainly trial or, more likely, a series of expensive, time-consuming trials that allow those tried later to see the prosecution’s full case.

That said, Willis knew the pitfalls and risks going in. She nevertheless moved expeditiously, did not bring the case before she was ready and now might have the distinction of holding the first trial in the phony elector scheme. Moreover, in a proceeding that will be televised, she has the unique opportunity to teach Americans a thing or two about the justice system and the overwhelming evidence of a failed coup that Republicans still defend. If her answer to Jordan is any indication, her presentation is bound to be fiery, effective and incontrovertible.