'That's not a finding!' CNN experts battle it out over judge's Fani Willis order

The Georgia judge delivered several setbacks for Fulton County DA Fani Willis this week.

He nixed six of the 41 counts filed in sprawling RICO election subversion case against Trump and co-defendants, made an ultimatum that either Willis or her ex-romantic flame Nathan Wade step down from the case (Wade formally withdrew) — and then suggested their testimonies under oath to defend against misconduct weren't completely on the level.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled that while there was insufficient evidence that Willis enjoyed a personal profit from taking extravagant trips with Wade to Napa Valley and Belize, among other gifts during their affair, he wrote "an odor of mendacity remains" and that there are “reasonable questions” about whether Willis and Wade testified truthfully about the timing of their relationship that “further underpin the finding of an appearance of impropriety and the need to make proportional efforts to cure it.”

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For former federal prosecutor Ryan Goodman during an appearance alongside investigative reporter Michael Isikoff on CNN's "Out Front" — a pall will hover over Willis' credibility as she moves the case against Trump and company forward and could invite other agencies such as the Georgia State Bar Association to sanction them.

"That's the exact quote: 'an odor of mendacity,'" he said. "So that is an invitation to somebody to bring up an ethics charge."

Isikoff, who co-authored the book featuring interviews with Willis titled "Find Me The Votes," attempted to correct Goodman.

"Well, I just wanted to correct Ryan, the 'odor of mendacity' quote, which is in that opinion... if you read it closely, he's not referring to Fani Willis' testimony," he charged.

He added that McAfee "never specifically says that Fani Willis gave testimony that that he does not believe or that was contradicted."

Willis and Wade said the relationship ended in the summer of 2023. They both said that Willis either paid for things herself or used cash to reimburse Wade for travel expenses.

McAfee wrote that there was insufficient evidence that Willis had a personal stake in the prosecution. And he said he was unable to “conclusively establish by a preponderance of the evidence” whether Willis and Wade began dating before or after he was hired as special prosecutor.

But it was Goodman who set the record straight; reading directly from the judge's ruling that "reasonable questions about whether the district attorney and her hand-selected lead SADA [Wade] testified untruthfully about the timing of their relationship further underpin the finding of an appearance of impropriety on their part."

"That's a direct reference."

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