Trump to face trial in hush money case, as Fani Willis defends romantic relationship in Georgia case
Welcome to the 14th edition of our weekly recaps for the upcoming US presidential election! As another hectic week in US politics comes to a close, we’ve summarised the most important stories of the past few days for you, from former president Donald Trump’s upcoming trial in New York City to the case against attorney Fani Willis that has been polarising much of the US public. So, let’s get started.
Trump’s trial date for the hush money case involving Stormy Daniels was set
On Thursday 15 February 2024, New York judge Juan Merchan rejected a bid to throw out the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal charges against the former president. The case accuses Trump of falsifying financial documents to hide a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016. The case is considered quite monumental because his alleged affair with Daniels jeopardised his campaign in 2016 and will now loom as a ghost over his 2024 election bid, according to The New York Times.
The trial date is set for 25 March. Notably, the case in Manhattan, unlike the federal cases in Washington and Florida, is protected from federal intervention. Thus, Trump would not be able to pardon himself or otherwise use the presidency as a legal shield.
FBI informant charged with lying about Joe and Hunter Biden’s role in Ukraine business
FBI informant Alexander Smirnov was charged with lying about President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden’s ties to Ukrainian energy company Burisma. The Guardian reported that Smirnov falsely told FBI agents in June 2020 that executives associated with the energy company paid both Bidens’ $5 million each in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
As the US presidential elections started to loom last summer, these accusations became a central point of conversations in Congress as Republicans were on a pursuit to tarnish and impeach Biden and his family. They demanded that the FBI release the unredacted form documenting the allegations. Although it was noted at the time that it was unclear whether the allegations were true, these revelations undermine the thrust of congressional Republicans’ corruption accusations that the US president was making money from his son’s business dealings in Ukraine.
Georgia attorney Fani Willis undergoes a misconduct case that polarises the public
On Thursday 15 February, in Georgia, Fulton County, district attorney Fani Willis started to undergo a hearing in a misconduct case. The attorney, who oversees the election interference case against Trump in Georgia, could be removed from the former businessman’s case if the hearings successfully prove misconduct.
The case pertains to Willis’ relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor she hired for the Georgia case, and with whom she was romantically involved. It specifically questions her disclosure of the timeline and conditions of their relationship.
For instance, the court papers allege that Willis and Wade lived together without disclosing this to the court, which Willis dismissed as “lies” during the hearing, as reported by Reuters.
“You’re confused. You think I’m on trial. These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020,” the Fulton County district attorney told lawyer Ashleigh Merchant.
Michael Roman, a co-defendant of Trump who served as his director of election-day operations initially raised the allegations that Willis lied in her statements to the court. At the moment, lawyers are suggesting that Willis financially benefited from the relationship, in the form of gifts as well as her partner’s high earnings that afforded them vacations. This could give her an incentive to prolong the prosecution.
Nevertheless, much of the public, specifically many women of colour, think that these allegations are hiding way more than that. Hollis-Palmer, a Black, 40-year-old attorney from Mississippi, for instance, stated that she was doubting the veracity of these claims.
“We just have to be so careful when we are in these positions to not give people the ammunition to come after us,” Hollis-Palmer told The New York Times. Several other women who were interviewed by the news outlet voiced similar sentiments, saying that they were observing a playbook they were very familiar with.
Glynda Carr, the leader of Higher Heights for America, an organisation that supports Black women in politics, said she had been raised with the idea that Black women are subjected to a doubled amount of scrutiny, due to racist and sexist social and political dynamics. “Yes, we have a playbook about how we have to be twice as better, that we have to dot all the is and cross the ts,” Carr explained. When the public thinks Black women have made a mistake, she added, they “fall harder on the sword.”
