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Posts tagged ‘motion’

Ga. Judge: ‘Possible’ Evidence May Disqualify Willis


By Mark Swanson    |   Monday, 12 February 2024 03:46 PM EST

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/georgia-judge-hearing/2024/02/12/id/1153275/

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said Monday that it’s “possible” the evidence that surfaced against District Attorney Fani Willis could disqualify her from the prosecuting the election interference case against Donald Trump and the remaining co-defendants. At issue is whether Willis’ admitted relationship with top prosecutor Nathan Wade “resulted in a financial benefit” to Willis by hiring him, McAfee said.

“What remains to be proven is the existence and extent of any financial benefit, again if there even was one,” McAfee said regarding his decision to move forward with a hearing.

“Because I think it’s possible that the facts alleged by the defendant [Mike Roman] could result in disqualification [for Fani Willis]. I think an evidentiary hearing must occur to establish the record on those core allegations,” the judge said.

Willis had asked McAfee to quash the subpoenas against her, Wade, and employees in the DA’s office and cancel Thursday’s hearing. McAfee rejected that.

The attorney for Roman filed a motion weeks ago for Willis to be disqualified over the relationship, which Willis finally admitted to on Feb. 2. The situation took a turn Friday when Roman’s attorney said Wade’s former law partner will “refute” claims Willis and Wade made that their relationship started after the prosecutor was appointed to lead the case against the former president.

“(Terrance) Bradley has non-privileged, personal knowledge that the romantic relationship between Wade and Willis began prior to Willis being sworn as the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia in January 2021,” wrote Ashleigh Merchant, Roman’s lawyer.

Friday’s filing asserts their relationship began in 2019. Wade’s firm has been paid more than $653,000 since being hired by Willis in November 2021.

Records show that Wade purchased plane tickets for he and Willis to Aruba in October 2022 and San Francisco in April 2023. Roman alleges Wade spent more than $16,000 on cruises and trips in his filing, which accuses Willis of honest services fraud.

Mark Swanson 

Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.

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Rep. Matt Gaetz to Newsmax: McCarthy Can Be Ousted for Using Dem Votes


By Eric Mack    |   Tuesday, 30 May 2023 04:56 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/matt-gaetz-debt-kevin-mccarthy/2023/05/30/id/1121737/

The House could pass the debt-ceiling deal agreed to by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and President Joe Biden, but it might ultimately cost McCarthy his job if he has to have Democrat votes to do it, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., warned Tuesday on Newsmax.

“The operative question there is whether or not the speaker can get to a majority of the majority,” Gaetz told Tuesday’s “The Chris Salcedo Show.” “If a majority of Republicans are against a piece of legislation, and you use Democrats to pass it, that would immediately be a black letter violation of the deal we had with McCarthy to allow his ascent to the speakership, and it would likely trigger an immediate motion to vacate.

“I think Speaker McCarthy knows that. That’s why he’s working hard to make sure that he gets 120, 150, 160 votes.”

Republicans control the House with a 222-213 majority, so, as Gaetz pointed out to host Chris Salcedo, McCarthy needs to whip up at least 112 Republican votes for the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.

“That’s a key number because according to the concessions that Speaker McCarthy made in January, he can only bring legislation to the floor if a majority of the majority is going to support it,” Gaetz told Salcedo. “Right now, that may be in question. The first test for Speaker McCarthy is the Rules Committee. That’s a committee where we’ve got folks who are very dead-set against this bill like Chip Roy and Ralph Norman.

“So, will Democrats on the Rules Committee crossover and give Speaker McCarthy what he needs to get the bill to the floor? And then will 112 Republicans indicate that they’re going to vote for it?

“We cannot pass bills with a majority of the Republicans in opposition, so if folks are against this, they should reach out to their member of Congress and have their voice heard.”

Gaetz is a hard no, but he was also a hard no on the previously GOP-passed House deal to raise the debt ceiling.

“I am not going to vote for this bill,” Gaetz said. “I think that it doesn’t put sufficient downward pressure on spending. I announced that on Newsmax the other night and what’s interesting to me, Chris, is that an increasing number of members who are very close to Speaker McCarthy are now announcing their opposition; people like: Kat Cammack, Corey Mills, Michael Waltz, Russell Frye, Wesley Hunt.

“These are very much team McCarthy people, but they have announced that this isn’t something that they can support.

“I didn’t even vote for the first increase in the debt limit because gaslighting $49 trillion in debt over the next 10 years does a great deal of harm to the American economy, and it cuts against our principal mandate with the voters, which is to fight inflation.”

Also, Gaetz concluded, a number of the features of the deal McCarthy agreed to with Biden can too easily be unwound by the president.

“Those of us who are not supportive of the bill are trying to point out that many of the changes are cosmetic in nature and Joe Biden’s administration is going to be able to waive certain requirements and certain conditions that sound like great talking points, but they don’t save the country from the ruin that the Biden administration is bringing us to,” Gaetz lamented.

It requires just one “motion to vacate” McCarthy as speaker, spiraling the House back into a search for speaker that ultimately required 15 rounds of voting to pick McCarthy in January.

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