Summary
Here is a wrap-up of the day’s key events:
Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor in the Georgia racketeering case against Donald Trump and his co-defendants, has resigned. Wade’s resignation comes after a ruling by the judge overseeing the Trump Georgia case that district attorney Fani Willis can continue to head the prosecution, as long as Wade steps down from the case.
Donald Trump has responded to Nathan Wade’s resignation in yet another fiery Truth Social post. Writing on his social media platform, Trump said: “…Nathan was the ‘Special,’ in more ways than one, Prosecutor ‘engaged’ by Fani (pronounced Fauni!) Willis, to persecute TRUMP for Crooked Joe Biden and his Department of Injustice…”
Donald Trump has endorsed John Barrasso for the next Senate Republican whip, the conference’s number two spot. Barrasso is a “fantastic” senator for Wyoming who will “never let you down”, Trump posted to Truth Social on Thursday evening.
New York judge Juan Merchan has delayed Donald Trump’s hush money trial, which was set to begin on March 25, to mid-April. “There are significant questions of fact which this Court must resolve before it may rule on Defendant’s motion,” Merchant wrote.
The White House’s top lawyer told House Republicans to give up on their impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden in a letter addressed to the House speaker, Mike Johnson. A spokesperson for Johnson said it was not up to the White House to decide what happened with the inquiry.
Joe Biden defended the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, over comments he made on Thursday calling on Israel to hold new elections and harshly criticizing its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. “I’m not going to elaborate on the speech. He made a good speech,” Biden said.
Joe Biden welcomed the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, at the White House. Varadkar told Biden that his priority was to get a ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible to allow humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory.
Judge delays Donald Trump's hush money criminal trial until mid-April
New York judge Juan Merchan has delayed Donald Trump’s hush money trial, which was set to begin on March 25, to mid-April.
“There are significant questions of fact which this Court must resolve before it may rule on Defendant’s motion,” Merchant wrote.
Earlier this month, Trump’s lawyers had argued for a 90-day delay, saying that they needed more time to review thousands of pages of evidence. However, they later said that they agreed to the 30-day delay “in an abundance of caution and to ensure that defendant has sufficient time to review the new materials.”
The hush money case revolves around alleged payments Trump secretly made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 during his presidential campaign in an attempt to conceal their alleged sexual encounter.
Last year, Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges in the case.
Donald Trump is the true winner in the decision on Fani Willis in the Georgia election interference case, the Guardian’s Sam Levine writes:
Fani Willis may have survived a high-stakes effort to disqualify her from prosecuting the high-stakes election interference case in Georgia. But the biggest winner from the episode is likely Donald Trump.
The Fulton county district attorney can now continue prosecuting her case against Trump and 14 co-defendants as long as Nathan Wade, a top deputy with whom she had a romantic relationship with, resigns, Fulton county superior court judge Scott McAfee ruled on Friday. Wade did just that a few hours later.
But both the opinion and the extraordinary hearing that preceded it lends a hugely significant judicial imprimatur to Trump’s successful effort to diminish Willis’ credibility in the public eye.
Trump and his co-defendants have waged a successful campaign to diminish the perception of her – puncturing her reputation as an impartial prosecutor seeking justice and instead offering up the image of a flawed public official whose romantic feelings led to a lapse in judgment.
For the full story, click here:
Donald Trump has responded to Nathan Wade’s resignation in yet another fiery Truth Social post.
Writing on his social media platform, Trump said:
“The Fani Willis lover, Mr. Nathan Wade Esq., has just resigned in disgrace, as per his and her reading of the Judge’s Order today. Nathan was the ‘Special,’ in more ways than one, Prosecutor ‘engaged’ by Fani (pronounced Fauni!) Willis, to persecute TRUMP for Crooked Joe Biden and his Department of Injustice, for purposes of Election Interference and living the life of the Rich & Famous…”
Updated
In his resignation letter to district attorney Fani Willis, Nathan Wade said:
“I am offering my resignation in the interest of democracy, in dedication to the American public, and to move this case forward as quickly as possible.
I am proud of the work our team has accomplished in investigating, indicting and litigating this case. Seeking justice for the people of Georgia and the United States, and being part of the effort to ensure that the rule of law and democracy are preserved, has been the honor of a lifetime.”
NEWS: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis writes that she has accepted the resignation of special prosecutor Nathan Wade, following an order by Judge Scott McAfee.
— Sam Gringlas (@gringsam) March 15, 2024
"I am sure the case, and the team, will be in good hands moving forward and justice will be served." pic.twitter.com/JdCRZgXapO
Updated
Nathan Wade’s resignation allows Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis to remain on the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump, but the long-term damage to her credibility and the public perception of the prosecution remains unclear.
Despite Judge Scott McAfee’s ruling giving Willis the option to stay on the case, his decision offered a harsh analysis of her conduct and underscoring questions about her judgment that were exposed during a multi-day hearing.
In his ruling, McAfee said Willis had demonstrated “tremendous lapse in judgment”, noting that Georgia law “does not permit the finding of an actual conflict for simply making bad choices – even repeatedly maintaining such a relationship.”
Trump and allies are likely to seize on those punches as they continue to defend themselves in the case.
Donald Trump has endorsed John Barrasso for the next Senate Republican whip, the conference’s number two spot.
Barrasso is a “fantastic” senator for Wyoming who will “never let you down”, Trump posted to Truth Social on Thursday evening.
Barrasso, 71, is the third-ranking Senate Republican as chair of the Senate Republican conference and relatively popular with the Republican right. He endorsed Trump in January and has also supported several “Make America great again” candidates for the Senate, including election denier Kari Lake in Arizona.
Barrasso is running unopposed for the whip position to replace John Thune, who is running to replace Mitch McConnell as Senate Republican leader.
Fani Willis thanks Nathan Wade for his 'patriotism, courage' following resignation
Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis accepted Nathan Wade’s resignation from the election interference case against Donald Trump and his co-defendants in Georgia in a letter where she thanked him for his “patriotism, courage, and dedication to justice.”
In the letter, Willis said she accepted her top deputy’s resignation effective immediately, and said she will “always remember … that you were brave enough to step forward and take on” the investigation into the former president and his allies. She wrote:
I compliment you for the professionalism and dignity you have shown over the last 865 days, as you have endured threats against you and your family, as well as unjustified attacks in the media and in court on your reputation as a lawyer.
She concluded the letter by writing:
Please accept my sincere gratitude on behalf of the citizens of Fulton county Georgia for your patriotism, courage, and dedication to justice. I wish you the best in your future endeavors.
Updated
The decision by Nathan Wade to step down from his role as special prosecutor in the Georgia racketeering case against Donald Trump and his co-defendants means that district attorney Fani Willis can continue leading the prosecution.
The ruling earlier today by Judge Scott McAfee came after hearings that offered a dramatic deviation from the case against Trump and his allies as it investigated Willis’s romantic relationship with Wade, her top deputy.
The question at the heart of the matter was whether Willis had a conflict of interest in the case because of her relationship with Wade. Michael Roman, one of the 14 remaining defendants in the case, filed a motion in January saying Willis should be disqualified from handling the case because of her romantic relationship with Wade, which was not publicly known at the time.
The two eventually admitted their relationship, but said it did not begin until 2022, after Wade was hired to work on the Trump case. Wade acknowledged that he paid for vacations for the two of them to places such as Napa in California and Aruba, but he and Willis both said she paid him back in cash.
In his ruling, the judge said Wade could withdraw from the case, “allowing the district attorney, the defendants, and the public to move forward without his presence or remuneration distracting from and potentially compromising the merits of this case”.
Fulton county special prosecutor Nathan Wade resigns
Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor in the Georgia racketeering case against Donald Trump and his co-defendants, has resigned.
Wade’s resignation comes after a ruling by the judge overseeing the Trump Georgia case that district attorney Fani Willis can continue to head the prosecution, as long as Wade steps down from the case.
NEW: Fulton County DA Fani Willis has accepted the resignation of her deputy Nathan Wade, per letter, a move which allows her to continue on the case — pic.twitter.com/UgjnE7rb4q
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) March 15, 2024
Updated
After the House fast-tracked a bill that would force China-based ByteDance to divest from TikTok or face a nationwide ban, senators say they want the chamber to take its time deciding whether to back the legislation.
The House voted 352-65 on Wednesday, just eight days after the proposal was introduced. There is broad support in the Senate for taking action to address national security threats from foreign apps like TikTok but no agreement on the right approach.
The Senate commerce committee chair, Maria Cantwell, said in an interview with Reuters she wants legislation to address broad concerns about foreign apps that will hold up in court and is not sure the House bill goes far enough.
“We’ll probably have a better idea in a week what we think the options are,” Cantwell said, adding that she had thought about holding hearings.
Senator Ron Wyden, a leading Democrat on tech issues, said he was still reviewing the House bill and has “serious concerns about any app that gives the Chinese government access to Americans’ private data.
I’ll also say this: history teaches us that when lawmakers rush to legislate on tech and social media, mistakes get made.
Analysis: Trump is the true winner in the decision on Fani Willis
Fani Willis may have survived a high-stakes effort to disqualify her from prosecuting the high-stakes election interference case in Georgia. But the biggest winner from the episode is likely Donald Trump.
The Fulton county district attorney can now continue prosecuting her case against Trump and 14 co-defendants as long as Nathan Wade, a top deputy with whom she had a romantic relationship with, resigns, Fulton county superior court judge Scott McAfee ruled on Friday.
But both the opinion and the extraordinary hearing that preceded it lends a hugely significant judicial imprimatur to Trump’s successful effort to diminish Willis’ credibility in the public eye.
Trump and his co-defendants have waged a successful campaign to diminish the perception of her – puncturing her reputation as an impartial prosecutor seeking justice and instead offering up the image of a flawed public official whose romantic feelings led to a lapse in judgment.
Friday’s developments are extremely significant. The Georgia case has long been considered one of the strongest against Trump. Unlike the two criminal cases being pursued by the justice department, it is also insulated from any direct interference by Trump should he win the 2024 election since he cannot dismiss the prosecutor or pardon himself in Georgia, even if he occupies the White House.
Read the full analysis by the Guardian’s voting rights reporter, Sam Levine: Trump is the true winner in the decision on Fani Willis in the Georgia case
The Georgia judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal case over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the state on Friday declined to remove Fani Willis, the Fulton county district attorney, from leading the prosecution, finding there was no conflict of interest stemming from her romantic relationship with her top deputy.
But the judge, Scott McAfee, ruled the relationship had the “appearance of impropriety” and gave Willis a choice: either she could step down, or the deputy, special prosecutor Nathan Wade, could do so.
If, as seems likely, Wade is now to be dropped from the prosecution, the case against Trump can continue with Willis leading it. But it will be one that is deeply politically damaged, especially due to the scathing criticism of her by McAfee.
Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach, is in Washington today visiting Joe Biden and attending happenings on Capitol Hill.
Varadkar used his remarks at a luncheon to thank the United States for its work to bring peace between Ireland and Northern Ireland — part of the United Kingdom — with the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, The Associated Press reports.
Joe Biden said:
May the hinge of our friendship never grow rusty.”
Both the US president and the Irish taoiseach, or prime minister, spoke up for continued international support for Ukraine in its grinding resistance two years into Russia’s invasion.
Ukraine must not fall and together, we need to stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes. We look forward to working with America for the next 100 years,” said Varadkar.
"Vast majority of Congress" wants to stand up to Russia - Biden
Joe Biden and Mike Johnson have been shaking hands, smiling, sitting next to each other. You’d almost think Congress was functioning and the Democratic-controlled White House was happy with everything that’s going on in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
The US president and the Speaker of the House are at, to quote the White House, the Friends of Ireland Caucus St Patrick’s Day Luncheon.
You know that when someone says “luncheon” it’s an official function calling for decorum and delicacies, both diplomatic and gastronomic.
The White House pool report says that Johnson stepped to the microphone first in the Rayburn Room. He introduced Biden, who was smiling while he sat nearby listening, as “someone who is known everywhere as America’s most famous Irishman.”
Pool continues: The president, in a blue suit and green tie, then made general remarks about Ireland – Irish poets, Irish history, Irish American heritage.
“And excuse me for saying this,” Biden said turning his attention to the situation in Ukraine after noting the shared US and Irish commitment to freedom, “but I think the vast majority of members of Congress” are willing to do their part” to stand up to Russian aggression.
The latest tranche of US funding for Ukraine to counter the Russian invasion passed the Senate but has stalled in the House.
Irish leader Leo Varadkar is visiting Biden today and is attending the luncheon.
Updated
Israel said on Friday it would send a delegation to Qatar for fresh talks on a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza, keeping faint hopes for a truce alive despite rejecting a long-awaited counter-offer from Hamas, Reuters reports.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office also said he had approved a plan for an assault on Rafah, the city on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip where more than half of the territory’s 2.3 million residents are sheltering, though it gave no timeframe for such an attack.
Negotiators failed this week to reach a ceasefire agreement for the Gaza war in time for the Ramadan Muslim holy month. But Washington and Arab mediators are still determined to reach a deal to head off an Israeli assault on Rafah and let in humanitarian aid to stave off mass starvation.
Underlining growing disquiet in Washington, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
told reporters in Austria that the United States needed to see a clear and implementable plan for Rafah, including to get civilians out of harm’s way.
You can follow all the developments from the Middle East in our story coverage and, currently, our separate live blog on the situation in Gaza.
Lawyer who led disqualification effort against Willis calls ruling a 'vindication'
The lawyer who filed the original motion against Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis has called the judge’s ruling “a vindication”.
Ashleigh Merchant, who represents Donald Trump’s co-defendant Michael Roman, released the following statement:
The judge clearly agreed with the defense that the actions of Willis are a result of her poor judgment and that there is a risk to the future of this case if she doesn’t quickly work to cure her conflict.
While we do not agree that the courts suggested cure is adequate in response to the egregious conduct by the district attorney, we look forward to the district attorneys response to the demands by the court.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
The Georgia judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal case over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the state has ruled that the district attorney Fani Willis can continue to head the prosecution, as long as a special prosecutor in the case and her top deputy, Nathan Wade, steps down. The decision avoids catastrophe for Willis, but it still significantly harms her credibility and underscores questions about her judgment.
Here are the top takeaways from the 23-page ruling by the judge, Scott McAfee.
You can also read the judge’s full decision here.
Trump lawyer Steve Sadow said his team will “use all legal options available” to continue to fight the Georgia election case.
A former assistant US attorney, Andrew Weissmann, called on Willis to voluntarily recuse herself from the case against Trump and his allies.
Republican senator Lindsey Graham called the judge’s decision “nonsensical” and “bizarre”.
Also:
The White House’s top lawyer told House Republicans to give up on their impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden in a letter addressed to the House speaker, Mike Johnson. A spokesperson for Johnson said it was not up to the White House to decide what happened with the inquiry.
Joe Biden defended the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, over comments he made on Thursday calling on Israel to hold new elections and harshly criticizing its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The supreme court will hear oral arguments on Monday in a case with the potential to radically redefine how the US government interacts with social media companies.
Biden welcomed the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, at the White House. Varadkar told Biden that his priority was to get a ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible to allow humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory.
A spokesperson for House speaker Mike Johnson has responded to a letter sent by the White House’s top lawyer urging House Republicans to give up on their impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.
In a scathing letter on Friday, White House counsel Ed Siskel told Johnson “it is clear the House Republican impeachment is over” and noting that despite collecting over 100,000 pages of records and conducting interviews with dozens of witnesses, including multiple public hearings, “none of the evidence has demonstrated that the president did anything wrong.”
Raj Shah, a spokesperson for Johnson, accused Biden of lying and said it was not up to the White House to decide what happened with the inquiry. An email shared by Reuters reads:
The White House does not get to decide how impeachment gets resolved, that is for Congress to decide.
Georgia’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, signed a law earlier this week that would make it possible to sanction and remove elected prosecutors, which could potentially disrupt Fani Willis’ prosecution against Donald Trump.
Kemp signed legislation last May setting up a statewide Prosecuting Attorneys Statewide Qualifications Commission, a move that was seen as a thinly veiled power grab to push out Democratic prosecutors. In November, the state supreme court refused to approve the rules governing the panel’s conduct, saying there were “grave doubts” it could regulate the duties of district attorneys beyond the practice of law.
Georgia state legislators passed a bill in January removing the requirement for supreme court approval.
Kemp, speaking before signing the bill on Wednesday, said:
This legislation will help us ensure rogue and incompetent prosecutors are held accountable if they refuse to uphold the law.
The measure is likely to face renewed legal challenges.
The Republican senator Lindsey Graham has issued a statement calling the judge’s ruling on Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis “nonsensical” and “bizarre”, adding that it was a “sad day for Georgia”.
The statement from Graham, a key ally of Donald Trump, continues:
When it comes to the prosecution of President Trump and others in Fulton County, Georgia, politics hangs heavy in the air.
The charges brought by Fulton County DA Willis and the bizarre decision by the judge not to remove her for an obvious appearance of impropriety reinforces the narrative that there is a two-tiered system of justice for President Trump and those around him.
Graham added that he was “hopeful” that either the Georgia state senate or the state’s attorney general will “look into this matter”.
Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump and his co-defendants, earlier this week dismissed some of the charges in the wide-ranging indictment.
The judge dismissed six of the charges in the indictment, including three against Trump, but left in place other counts – including 10 facing the former president.
One of the 41 charges Trump and some of the co-defendants in the case were charged with was soliciting officials in Georgia to violate their oath of office. The six defendants who had the charge at issue in the case were Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, John Eastman, Ray Smith and Robert Cheeley. Those charges were dismissed.
The ruling on Wednesday dealt a blow for Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis, and marked the first time charges in any of Trump’s four criminal cases have been dismissed.
Former US assistant attorney urges Willis to recuse herself
A former justice department prosecutor has called on the Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, to recuse herself from the racketeering case against Donald Trump and his allies.
Andrew Weissmann, a former assistant US attorney, speaking to MSNBC after Judge Scott McAfee’s decision, said:
The key is how to go forward, because clearly Wade is off, but I think that this is such a huge body blow, almost a fatal blow to Fani Willis.
I think the way forward is she has to voluntarily recuse herself. I don’t know that she has it in her, but I think she has to say I’m going to appoint a chief assistant who is going to oversee this case. She clearly has no credibility with this judge.
Updated
Read judge’s disqualification ruling on Fani Willis in Trump Georgia case
A Fulton county judge has ruled that district attorney Fani Willis can continue to head the prosecution of Donald Trump for trying to undermine the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, as long as special prosecutor Nathan Wade steps down.
You can read Judge Scott McAfee’s decision below:
Schumer 'made a good speech' about Israel concerns 'shared by many Americans', says Biden
Joe Biden has defended Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer over comments he made on Thursday calling on Israel to hold new elections and harshly criticizing its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
“He made a good speech,” Biden said when asked by reporters about Schumer’s remarks on the Senate floor on Thursday. He added:
He expressed serious concerns, shared not only by him but by many Americans.
Biden added that his staff were notified about the speech in advance by Schumer, who is the highest-ranking Jewish official in the US.
Updated
The supreme court will hear oral arguments on Monday in Murthy v Missouri, a case with the potential to radically redefine how the US government interacts with social media companies.
The suit is the culmination of years of a Republican-backed legal campaign arguing that efforts by federal agencies and Joe Biden’s White House to reduce misinformation online constitute censorship.
Central to the case is whether the White House violated free speech protections during the Covid-19 pandemic, when government officials requested that Twitter, Facebook and other social networks remove misinformation about the coronavirus. The lawsuit accuses the government of “coercing” tech platforms to change their policies, block content and suspend users.
The complaint was filed by attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri as well as rightwing individuals such as conspiracy site founder Jim Hoft. If the courts decide in their favor, the White House would be blocked from contacting social media companies, as happened when a lower court sided with the plaintiffs.
The Biden administration has argued that officials did not coerce or threaten social media platforms. It also argues that federal agencies have routinely communicated with social media platforms about terrorist group organizing or foreign influence campaigns, which has prompted tech companies to voluntarily enforce their own policies that ban such content.
Joe Biden has welcomed the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, at the White House ahead of St Patrick’s Day, with the two men expected to discuss the restoration of devolution as well as the situation in the Middle East.
Biden, who often speaks of his Irish heritage, is also expected to speak at the Friends of Ireland luncheon at the Capitol hosted by House speaker Mike Johnson at noon.
Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont who twice ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, introduced a bill to establish a four-day US working week.
Studies and pilot programmes have shown that four-day workweeks can increase productivity and happiness. Given Republican control of the House and a Senate split 51-49 in favour of Democrats, however, the legislation stands little chance of success.
“Moving to a 32-hour workweek with no loss of pay is not a radical idea,” Sanders said on Thursday.
Today, American workers are over 400% more productive than they were in the 1940s. And yet millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages than they were decades ago … It is time to reduce the stress level in our country and allow Americans to enjoy a better quality of life. It is time for a 32-hour workweek with no loss in pay.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) argues for a 32-hour workweek, citing that Americans now work more hours than "any other wealthy nation."
— The Recount (@therecount) March 14, 2024
He says in 2022, U.S. employees logged:
• 204 more hours than workers in Japan
• 279 more hours than the UK
• 470 more hours than Germany pic.twitter.com/FLShtdaTos
Updated
Fulton county superior court judge Scott McAfee’s decision was the “best ruling” that district attorney Fani Willis could have hoped for, a law professor said.
The judge concluded that the facts “do not reveal an actual conflict of interest,” and any appearance of conflict can be easily remedied by removing Nathan Wade as lead prosecutor, Georgia State University’s Anthony Michael Kreis told the New York Times, adding:
And even better for Willis, this is unlikely to be disturbed on appeal.
Another law professor at Georgia State University, Clark D Cunningham, told the paper that even if Wade steps down as special prosecutor, he believes that Willis’s troubles are “far from over”.
Donald Trump and his co-defendants will almost certainly appeal against the ruling, Cunningham said, adding that McAfee’s order gave them plenty of basis to argue that removing Wade isn’t enough to remedy what the judge called “an odor of mendacity”.
House speaker Mike Johnson has acknowledged that it is unclear if House Republican impeachment investigation into Joe Biden will disclose impeachable offenses.
Johnson admitted that “people have gotten frustrated” with the inquiry as he spoke to reporters on Wednesday.
I know that people have gotten frustrated sometimes that it’s [dragged] on too long. But in our constitutional system, that is the way it’s supposed to work.
Though he “has not been able to take the time to do the deep dive into evidence”, Johnson has insisted that what has been revealed is “alarming”.
Johnson, as he opened a House GOP retreat late Wednesday in West Virginia, said:
Does it reach the ‘treason, high crimes and misdemeanor’ standard? Everyone will have to make that evaluation when we pull all the evidence together.
A letter by the White House’s top lawyer to House speaker Mike Johnson urging House Republicans to give up on their impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden is a sign that the White House is taking an increasingly aggressive stance against the impeachment inquiry, which Democrats say is a clear effort to distract voters during an election year.
In the letter, White House counsel Ed Siskel tells Johnson that members of his own party are starting to turn away from him because of the impeachment inquiry. He cites reports that Republicans are looking for an exit strategy after failing to clinch the impeachment.
Siskel also quotes Ken Buck, a Republican representative from Colorado who announced earlier this week that he would resign from his post at the end of March, leaving the GOP with a weaker House majority.
House Republicans over the last six months have been trying to find evidence that Biden benefited from his son Hunter Biden’s foreign business activities. But after making clear their goal of impeaching the president, Republicans are scrambling to determine how to move forward even after they appear to have exhausted witnesses and documented sources.
The House oversight committee is holding a hearing next week with former business partners of Hunter Biden, but it is unclear whether witnesses can deliver the definitive evidence Republicans have been hoping for.
Fani Willis, the Fulton county district attorney, testified at a court hearing last month where she vehemently denied wrongdoing and rebutted accusations that her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade meant she should be disqualified from the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump.
Willis testified that her relationship with Wade started months after he was retained to work on the case, charging Trump over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat in the state, and ended in summer 2023.
The district attorney also sought to undercut allegations that she had engaged in a sort of kickback scheme through Wade’s hiring, as alleged by defense lawyers for a co-defendant of Trump, Michael Roman – in which she benefited from Wade’s earnings. At one point on the stand, an exasperated Willis said to lawyers questioning her:
You’ve been intrusive into people’s personal lives. You’re confused. You think I’m on trial. These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. I’m not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial.
Here’s a clip from Willis’ hearing in February:
Updated
Scott McAfee, the judge overseeing the racketeering case against Donald Trump and his co-defendants, ruled that the district attorney Fani Willis can continue to head the prosecution of the case, as long as Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor in the case and her top deputy, steps down. He wrote:
The court therefore concludes that the prosecution of this case cannot proceed until the state selects one of two options. The district attorney may choose to step aside, along with the whole of her office, and refer the prosecution to the prosecuting attorneys’ council for reassignment.
He added that, alternatively, Wade can withdraw, “allowing the district attorney, the defendants, and the public to move forward without his presence or remuneration distracting from and potentially compromising the merits of this case”.
Defense lawyers argued that Willis should be disqualified from handling the case because of her romantic relationship with Wade, which was not publicly known at the time. The two eventually admitted their relationship, but said it did not begin until 2022, after Wade was hired to work on the Trump case.
Wade acknowledged that he paid for vacations for the two of them to places such as Napa in California and Aruba, but he and Willis both said she paid him back in cash. McAfee said the arrangement presented the appearance of a conflict of interest, which was enough to warrant at least Wade’s removal.
The judge added:
As the case moves forward, reasonable members of the public could easily be left to wonder whether the financial exchanges have continued resulting in some form of benefit to the district attorney, or even whether the romantic relationship has resumed.
Updated
Trump lawyer to 'use all legal options available' to continue to fight Georgia election case
Donald Trump’s lawyer Steve Sadow has responded to the ruling by Fulton county superior court judge Scott McAfee that Fani Willis can continue to head the Georgia election case.
A statement from Sadow, shared by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, reads:
While respecting the Court’s decision, we believe that the Court did not afford appropriate significance to the prosecutorial misconduct of Willis and Wade, including the financial benefits, testifying untruthfully about when their personal relationship began, as well as Willis’ extrajudicial MLK ‘church speech,’ where she played the race card and falsely accused the defendants and their counsel of racism. We will use all legal options available as we continue to fight to end this case, which should never have been brought in the first place.
Trump attorney Steve Sadow responds to the Fani Willis decision: "While respecting the Court’s decision, we believe that the Court did not afford appropriate significance to the prosecutorial misconduct of Willis and Wade, including the financial benefits, testifying untruthfully…
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) March 15, 2024
Updated
Judge reproaches Fani Willis for 'tremendous lapse in judgment'
In his ruling, Fulton county superior court judge Scott McAfee wrote that district attorney Fani Willis had demonstrated “tremendous lapse in judgment”, noting that even if the romantic relationship between her and Nathan Wade developed after Wade was appointed as special prosecutor in November 2021, Willis “chose to continue supervising and paying Wade while maintaining such a relationship.”
She further allowed the regular and loose exchange of money between them without any exact or verifiable measure of reconciliation. This lack of a confirmed financial split creates the possibility and appearance that the District Attorney benefited – albeit non-materially – from a contract whose award lay solely within her purview and policing.
Georgia law “does not permit the finding of an actual conflict for simply making bad choices – even repeatedly,” McAfee wrote.
The judge said he found the “allegations and evidence legally insufficient to support a finding of an actual conflict of interest,” but that there remains an “appearance of impropriety”.
This finding is by no means an indication that the Court condones this tremendous lapse in judgment or the unprofessional manner of the District Attorney’s testimony during the evidentiary hearing.
Updated
A judge in Georgia has ruled that the district attorney Fani Willis can continue to head the prosecution of Donald Trump for trying to undermine the 2020 presidential election in the state, as long as a top deputy steps down.
The ruling came after hearings that offered a dramatic deviation from the racketeering case against Trump and 14 remaining co-defendants as it investigated Willis’s romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor in the case.
The question at the heart of the matter was whether Willis had a conflict of interest in the case because of her relationship with Wade. Michael Roman, one of the 14 remaining defendants in the case, filed a motion in January saying Willis should be disqualified from handling the case because of her romantic relationship with Wade, which was not publicly known at the time.
The two eventually admitted their relationship, but said it did not begin until 2022, after Wade was hired to work on the Trump case. Wade acknowledged that he paid for vacations for the two of them to places such as Napa in California and Aruba, but he and Willis both said she paid him back in cash.
The hearing dived deeply into the personal lives of Wade and Willis, and featured dramatic testimony from Willis in which she bluntly accused Roman’s lawyers of lying and sought to regain control over one of the most high-stakes trials in the US.
Updated
Judge rules Fani Willis can stay on Trump Georgia election case - if deputy goes
A judge has ruled that the Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, should not be disqualified from prosecuting the racketeering case against Donald Trump and his co-defendants.
Fulton county superior court judge Scott McAfee ruled that Willis can continue leading the prosecution of Trump and his allies in Georgia, but only if her former romantic partner, Nathan Wade, withdraws as the lead prosecutor of the case.
McAfee found there was no “actual conflict” brought about by the relationship between Willis and Wade, but that the “appearance of impropriety” should result in either Willis and her office leaving the case, or Wade. The judge added:
Without sufficient evidence that the District Attorney acquired a personal stake in the prosecution, or that her financial arrangements had any impact on the case, the Defendants’ claims of an actual conflict must be denied.
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White House counsel Ed Siskel’s letter to the House speaker, Mike Johnson, calls on House Republicans drop their efforts to impeachment Joe Biden and “not continue to waste time on political stunts”.
Siskel writes that House Republicans have spent more than a year investigating Biden in an “effort to find something – anything – to hurt the president politically”, but that the investigation “has continually turned up evidence that, in fact, the president did nothing wrong”. He writes:
The House Majority has reportedly collected more than 100,000 pages of records, interviewed dozens of witnesses, and held multiple public hearings – but none of the evidence has demonstrated that the President did anything wrong. In fact, it has shown the opposite of what House Republicans have claimed.
“It is obviously time to move on, Mr Speaker,” Siskel wrote.
This impeachment is over. There is too much important work to be done for the American people to continue wasting time on this charade.
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White House urges Mike Johnson to 'move on' and end Biden impeachment inquiry
Good morning US politics readers. The White House has urged the House speaker, Mike Johnson, to end impeachment efforts against Joe Biden, arguing in a letter that House Republicans’ months-long effort to uncover wrongdoing by the president has come up empty.
Writing to Johnson, White House counsel Ed Siskel said it is “obviously time to move on”, noting that testimony and records turned over to the House oversight and judiciary committees have “turned up evidence that … the president did nothing wrong”. The four-page letter comes as the Republican impeachment drive has come to a near-standstill after the indictment of a key witness on charges of making up allegations against the president’s son, Hunter Biden, and amid a tenuous House Republican majority.
Here’s what else we’re watching:
10am. The supreme court will convene for a public non-argument session.
10.30am. Joe Biden will host Taoiseach Leo Varadkar of Ireland for a bilateral meeting
12pm. Mike Johnson will host Biden and Varadkar for the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon at the Capitol.
12.30pm. Biden will deliver remarks at the Friends of Ireland Luncheon at US Capitol.
1.25pm. Kamala Harris will convene roundtable conversation about marijuana reform with artist and philanthropist Fat Joe and Kentucky’s governor, Andy Beshear.
2.30pm. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will give a briefing.
7.30pm. Independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr will attend a private dinner and conversation fundraiser in Austin, Texas.
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