Did you hear the one about the former president and his cronies breaking the law? No, it’s not a punchline, it’s a real-life investigation happening in Georgia. The district attorney, Fani T. Willis, is looking into whether Donald Trump and his allies tried to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, and now she’s asking a judge to disqualify one of the attorneys representing the “fake electors” who falsely claimed that Trump won the election in Georgia. Apparently, this attorney didn’t tell her clients about some immunity deals offered by the prosecution, which is a big no-no in the legal world.
According to Willis’s court motion filed on Tuesday, attorney Kimberly Bourroughs Debrow represents ten of the alternate Republican electors and needs to be removed from “any further participation” in the case. Prosecutors claim that Debrow’s representing too many clients at once is an ethical breach, especially considering she represents electors who made adverse claims against other electors she also represents. That’s like representing your ex and their new partner in a legal dispute – talk about a conflict of interest!
But wait, there’s more! During interviews with the electors that Debrow represented, some of them claim that they weren’t offered immunity deals. However, statements made in court last year by attorney Holly Pierson (Debrow’s former co-counsel) say otherwise. Pierson told a judge that they informed their clients about the offers of immunity made by Willis’s office, so who’s telling the truth? This is starting to sound like a game of he said, she said, they said, doesn’t it?
Debrow didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment (probably because she’s too busy juggling all her clients), but Pierson claims the prosecution allegations are “entirely false.” In an email to the media, she said: “Sadly, the DA’s office continues to seem more interested in media attention, trampling on the constitutional rights of innocent citizens, and recklessly defaming its perceived opponents than in the facts, the law, or the truth.” Ouch, that’s quite the burn.
This investigation is heating up faster than a piñata at a kid’s birthday party. Willis has signaled that she’s close to making a public decision about whether to file charges in the case. The investigation has caught not only Trump and some of his closest aides and allies, but a slew of prominent Republicans as well. Willis and her team are examining not only Trump’s phone calls but the false claims of election fraud that Giuliani and other Trump associates made to Georgia state lawmakers, threats and harassment targeting Georgia election workers, and the alternate Republican electors. It’s like a legal whack-a-mole game – every time they think they’ve got one thing under control, another thing pops up.
At least 18 people are implicated in this investigation, including Giuliani and the slate of 16 alternate Republican electors. The legal fees for the Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer and the 10 electors are being paid by the party. Willis’s filing suggests that some of those electors are now cooperating with the investigation – but it’s not immediately clear why. Are they singing like a bird because they’ve been granted immunity or because they’ve got something to say?
This investigation has been going on for a while now, and people are getting antsy. The grand jury was dissolved in January after issuing a final report, but it remains mostly sealed to protect the rights of “potential future defendants.” Emily Kohrs, the panel’s forewoman, has said that the grand jury recommended the indictment of several people, but she hasn’t said whether Trump was one of them. Trump’s legal team is trying to quash the panel’s report and block prosecutors from using any evidence gathered during the investigation. They argue that the panel was “unconstitutional” and violated Trump’s due process rights. Good luck with that one, guys.
It’s unclear when or if Willis will bring charges, but she’s indicated that she believes serious crimes have been committed, and people could be facing prison sentences. The next grand jury panel is scheduled to begin the first week of May, so it’s probably only a matter of time before we learn more about what’s going on. In the meantime, grab some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the legal drama unfold – this is better than anything on Netflix right now.
Serious News: washingtonpost
