Uh-oh. Once again, the stellar disintegration of a local Atlanta rising star politician

Uh-oh.  It's happening again, the national mainstream media and DNC once again suckered into unicorn stories of heroic local Georgia Democrat rising stars who always end up being just a few steps ahead of the law.  For past rising stars in the national Democratic firmament, see here, here, here, here, here, and here.  

Bill Campbell, Kassim Reed, Beverly Hall, Keisha Lance Bottoms, Stacey Abrams - they all have their moment in the mainstream media sun.  Until the long trail of incompetence, criminal doing, criminal investigations, financial shenanigans, etc. suddenly come into view.  And the rising star promptly sets.  Or goes supernova.  

Back last year, Fani Willis, the Democrat District Attorney for Fulton County (a major part of metropolitan Atlanta) hove into prominence in Democratic Party circles for wrangling a novel set of allegations and creative interpretation of the law in order to bring State charges against presidential candidate Donald Trump in the hopes of rendering him unable or unfit to run for President.

Trumpeted in the right circles, hailed as a potential savior of Democracy, Willis was always only one more corrupt local Democratic Party functionary.  It was only a matter of time before the details on this particular rising star would come out.

And it sounds like that is about to happen.  With a Big Bang.  

Instead of bringing the case herself as District Attorney, she contracted it out to a law firm.  Where her paramour is a partner.  Who then uses money from the half million or more already billed to the District Attorney's office in order to fete and travel to exotic destinations with Willis.

We have financial corruption, we have moral turpitude, we have wasted taxpayer funds, etc.

From the New York Times:  Filing in Georgia Trump Case Claims ‘Improper’ Relationship Between Prosecutors by Richard Fausset.  The subheading is A defendant in the election interference case is arguing that the district attorney overseeing it and a special prosecutor she hired should be disqualified.

Fausset does his best to cover for their recent hero but mostly falls back on the technicality of it not yet being completely proven.  I am guessing he is simply unfamiliar with the Atlanta political track record where mundane and absurd corruption is the norm.  But my goodness, the charges are serious and it appears that the defendant may have the goods.  

A lawyer for one of the defendants charged along with former President Donald J. Trump in the Georgia election interference case said in a court filing on Monday that the district attorney overseeing the case, Fani T. Willis, had engaged in a “clandestine” relationship with the special prosecutor she hired to help handle it.

The filing, from a lawyer representing Michael A. Roman, a former Trump campaign official, provided no proof of the relationship or other claims it contained. It argued that the relationship should disqualify Ms. Willis, her office and the special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, from prosecuting the case.

The defense lawyer, Ashleigh B. Merchant, also wrote that Ms. Willis, the district attorney in Fulton County, Ga., was “profiting significantly from this prosecution at the expense of the taxpayers,” charging that Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade had taken vacations together with money he made working for her office.

Citing “information obtained outside of court filings,” Ms. Merchant wrote that Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade “have traveled personally together to such places as Napa Valley, Florida and the Caribbean” and that Mr. Wade had bought cruise ship tickets for them.

Ms. Merchant also argued in the filing that Ms. Willis had not obtained the proper approval to appoint Mr. Wade and that the case should be dismissed as a result. Mr. Wade is one of several outside lawyers whom Ms. Willis’s office is paying to help with the Trump case, a complex racketeering indictment against 15 people.

If the charges are correct, and they sound readily provable (and in keeping with local Georgia Democratic Party norms), then at the very least the case is on hold for a long time (new DA, new Prosecutor, investigations, etc.) if the charges aren't outright dismissed.   Especially since they were on pretty weak foundations in the first place.

Ann Althouse takes her information from the local Atlanta-Journal and Constitution.  From "District Attorney Fani Willis improperly hired an alleged romantic partner to prosecute Donald Trump and financially benefited from their relationship..."  The AJC is much more explicit than the NYT.

"... according to a court motion filed Monday.... The bombshell public filing alleged that special prosecutor Nathan Wade, a private attorney, paid for lavish vacations he took with Willis using the Fulton County funds his law firm received. County records show that Wade, who has played a prominent role in the election interference case, has been paid nearly $654,000 in legal fees since January 2022. The DA authorizes his compensation. The motion, filed on behalf of defendant Michael Roman, a former Trump campaign official, seeks to have the charges against Roman dismissed and for Willis, Wade and the entire DA’s office to be disqualified from further prosecution of the case...."

There's a lot of noise and protestation but this seems like both a clear case of corruption and certainly one with which Atlanta voters are more than familiar.  It is just how the system works no matter how much everyone detests it.  

The more sunshine we can get on all these politicians who get very rich in public service jobs, the better.