OPINION:
The fun never sets in the Atlanta courtroom of Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee. That is the red-hot scene of the adults-only reality TV hit called The Real Prosecutors of Fulton County.
As the Associated Press observed on Wednesday, a perilous political matter has “taken on a soap opera atmosphere, bogged down by testimony about sex, dating, cash stashes and text messages…”
Last week’s guest star was Terrence Bradley, Esq., the former law partner of Nathan Wade. Mr. Wade, for his part, swims in controversy. He conducted an adulterous relationship with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, even while he was married (en route to divorce) and works for Ms. Willis as lead prosecutor in her criminal trial related to President Donald J. Trump’s alleged efforts to “overturn” the 2020 election.
Mr. Bradley testified about when Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade started their swingin’ affair. He previously had exchanged hundreds of e-mails with Ashleigh Merchant, an attorney for Trump’s co-defendant Michael Roman, regarding the timing of Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade’s romance. In one message, Mr. Bradley said that it “absolutely” began before Ms. Willis employed Mr. Wade in November 2021.
But then Mr. Bradley contracted courtroom-induced amnesia. Frustrated, Ms. Merchant told Judge McAfee: “Judge, he doesn’t remember much of anything right now.”
Memories fade. But, alas, for Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade, phone bills are forever.
Mr. Wade’s cell phone records are highly incriminating. They show some 2,000 calls and 10,000 text messages between Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade. They communicated non-stop, with the frenzied back and forth of teenagers in heat.
Even more revealing is the location data from Mr. Wade’s cellphone. They confirm that Mr. Wade repeatedly showed up at Ms. Willis’ home ’round midnight and then went home by the dawn’s early light.
Did they burn the midnight oil reviewing documents and plotting trial procedures, or were other things afoot by candlelight?
Mr. Wade and Ms. Willis testified that they “did not sleep together” before Ms. Willis hired Mr. Wade.
As the late, great Dr. Henry Kissinger would have put it, this most likely “has the added advantage of being true.” These visits in the wee small hours involved little, if any, actual sleep.
The opposing counsel should have asked the obvious question as directly as this: “Did you two have sex before Willis employed Wade?”
Of course, Ms. Willis paid Mr. Wade an enormous sum to argue a complex Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) case against a former president of the United States. This is the legal equivalent of starring in the flying trapeze. Mr. Wade seems better equipped to drive a clown car. Nonetheless, he got paid like P.T. Barnum.
Mr. Wade has earned some $654,000 from Ms. Willis’ case against Mr. Trump since January 2022. Fishier still, Ms. Willis paid Mr. Wade $250 per hour in November and December 2021 while disbursing only $150 per hour to John Floyd, reputedly Georgia’s go-to RICO expert, according to a contract secured by The Daily Caller News Foundation.
Mr. Wade then spent part of this bonanza taking Ms. Willis on cruises, a fabulous weekend in Napa Valley, and other hot times in posh spots.
Ms. Willis seems to have recruited Mr. Wade in exchange for sexual favors and financial benefits, namely Earth-shaking assignments and splashy vacations.
This was a giant sexual kickback scheme — call it play to pay — all financed with Fulton County, Georgia’s tax dollars.
If Ms. Willis hired her boyfriend, then this is corruption.
If Ms. Willis hired Mr. Wade and then started copulating with him, then this sounds like sexual harassment: A boss knocking boots with an employee over whom she wields professional and economic power.
This is either a kickback scam or Me Too in reverse.
Which is it, Fani?
Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade should be booted from this case. Indeed, this entire stinking wreck should be dismissed, and Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, Sidney Powell, Harrison Floyd, Michael Roman, and the other defendants who are being persecuted — or who already have pleaded guilty — should have their charges dropped, their legal fees reimbursed, and profound apologies rendered by people of Fulton County.
• Deroy Murdock is a Manhattan-based Fox News Contributor.
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