Sgt. Schultz – “I know nothing… nothing” – I mean Terrence Bradley, testified before Judge McAfee again today, as the judge considered whether to disqualify Fani Willis. I think this whole thing is nothing but a Fani Willis witch hunt that should never have gotten this far. Some of the internet legal eagles are chalking this up to McAfee’s inexperience as a judge.
As you may have guessed from the post title, Terrence Bradley did not recall any details, which I am very happy about, because… well, bullshit witch hunt. It is no coincidence that the district attorney who is the subject of this witch hunt is black and female.
Anna Bower does a spectacular job of giving us the play-by-play. Anna’s first tweet, if you want to follow along on twitter.
I’m in courtroom 5A, where Terrence Bradley–the former divorce attorney for special prosecutor Nathan Wade–is expected to resume his testimony as Judge Scott McAfee mulls whether to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. 🧵👇
Watch: https://t.co/QBb8YvzxN7 https://t.co/DzopBDGM3m
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) February 27, 2024
Talking Points Memo is live blogging also, though more with summaries than a play-by-play.
YouTube link if you have any desire to watch.
I have no idea who this person is, but he speaks for me with this tweet:
This whole sideshow has nothing to do with the charges at issue here. Rookie McAfee has been completely run over by the defendants, who successfully flipped the script on a full-on set of RICO charges. It’s really sad to see.
— Frantz Schoobert (@FrantzSchoobert) February 27, 2024
*except that I would call this a shit show and not a sideshow.
Open thread.
Frankensteinbeck
If the disqualification doesn’t happen, then this trial amounts to absolutely nothing.
EDIT – No, let me correct that. Its only result is a shameful, racist, and misogynistic harassment of Willis.
Villago Delenda Est
This entire foofaraw is more TFG/PAB delaying horseshit. Why it’s being given the time of day baffles me, it’s a nothingburger on steroids.
TaMara
John Banner’s estate would like a word..
Clearly, this sexual predator lied because he was pissed he got fired and wanted revenge on the parties he slandered.
Baud
@Frankensteinbeck:
I suppose the judge may be innoculating the decision from attack later by giving Trump a wide berth to probe then relationship. We’ll see.
WaterGirl
@TaMara: I had forgotten that the ex-partner was the one who was accused of some sexual crime. So you think he told lies for revenge and then tried to back out of them?
edit: It almost seemed to me that the Trump lawyers and others who had been indicted were suggesting that Bradley told lies to Merchant to set them up to look like fools when they couldn’t prove them.
JPL
@Baud: I hope you’re right, because this judge could remove her because it doesn’t look good. The hearing was a farce. Merchant was friends with Bradley and Wade beforehand.
HinTN
@Baud: That’s a right charitable read there, bubba. I think rookie run over by defendants is probably closer to the mark. We shall see.
JPL
@WaterGirl: I think it was just gossip between friends, since Merchant and Bradley were friends.
Scout211
CNN Live Updates
The defense attorneys are hammering Bradley for changing his statement about the Wade-Willis relationship from something he knew about to something he speculated about. Sgt. Schultz testimony is a very good description. He still may have harmed his own reputation but he backed off from violating his attorney-client privilege with Wade. The defense attorneys accused him of using a “weaselly lawyer word.” LOL
WaterGirl
I just hope that Judge McAfee has his head on straight. It looks to me like he made a foolish choice / mistake by having this whole hearing in the first place when there don’t seem to be any actual facts that can be proven by, you know, actual evidence.
I weep for Fani Willis and all women professionals everywhere, who are subjected to shit like this that would NEVER happen to a male DA, and certainly not to a white male DA.
TaMara
@WaterGirl: How deep state of him 😉
TaMara
In other news, I’m going to make chili garlic paste, pray for my eyes. LOL
WaterGirl
Who was the creepy looking guy who was there representing Trump? If I saw him on the street I would cross to the other side, and if I were waiting for an elevator, I would wait for a different one.
WaterGirl
I don’t think the phone records should be allowed. Cole and Tammy probably talked and texted 25 times a day. Communication does not necessarily mean copulation.
While I’m ranting, can I just say that it doesn’t seem right that it was legal or proper for them to get the phone records in the first place.
Caveatimperator
@TaMara:
Have milk on hand. I learned that the hard way when I had the kitchen blower on too high and got cayenne in my eyes.
A paper towel soaked in milk works wonders.
Dangerman
New Olympic sport. Wall shit toss. No points for stickage.
WaterGirl
@Caveatimperator: More than once I have touched my eyes after cutting up hot peppers. Do not recommend.
Old School
Seems like a strong witness:
rikyrah
Nandita Bose (@nanditab1) posted at 2:38 PM on Tue, Feb 27, 2024:
Outside of Dearborn, Michigan, things look good for @JoeBiden. Spoke to over a dozen Democrats in Detroit, who have all voted for him.
Suzy Villarreal, 63, self-employed, voted for Joe at the Maybury Elementary School in Detroit.
“The alternative is a nutcase, who is trying to take our rights away. I don’t like the idea of the government making choices for women.
I have a granddaughter and I’m really worried about her future and her ability to make her own decisions about her body.”
“I get what’s happening in Dearborn and I’d be pissed too but now is not the time for a protest vote.
It’s just going to hurt Biden and get the other guy elected. We can’t let that happen.”
https://t.co/f2dgZWBc3d
(https://x.com/nanditab1/status/1762578019502232031?t=k_F5nAPHPOphCEgqXJcqBQ&s=03)
Geminid
@JPL: Merchant and Bradley might not be friends after today. Anna Bowers reported Bradley saying of his earlier statements to Merchant:
rikyrah
18 GOP-held Biden districts targeted to flip blue (@Needle_of_Arya) posted at 10:07 AM on Tue, Feb 27, 2024:
omg
these white people really did convert a former slave plantation into a wedding venue
the f-ck
*Eye.* Cannot.
(https://x.com/Needle_of_Arya/status/1762509788640874579?t=N3ig3VGXH3VC8ltLtmY6Pw&s=03)
lowtechcyclist
@WaterGirl:
If I’m reading the TPM liveblog correctly, I think that’s Steve Sadow. But if called on to testify, I’m just speculating. ;-)
Suzanne
@rikyrah:
Suzy Villareal gives me some hope here.
I’m pissed about Gaza — happy to see some positive steps — but now is not the time for a protest vote.
If you’re a genuine progressive…. electing Joe Biden is the most plausible way to take steps toward your goals. There is not one single progressive priority that TFG will advance. Not a single one.
Lacuna Synecdoche
WaterGirl @ Top:
I guess that’s the charitable take.
But McAfee is a Republican, and my take on Republican office holders is: There’s no need to attribute incompetence and inexperience to what can just as easily, and more likely, be attributed to corruption and malice.
WaterGirl
@lowtechcyclist: Yes, that was him. shudder
Tarragon
A trick I learned from working with chemists.
Order is important.
Jackie
@lowtechcyclist: Yes, that was Sadow; the one who started this entire charade of BS.
@WaterGirl: Your creepometer is spot on.
Betty
@WaterGirl: The cell records do seem a little problematic if accurate. His cell was located in her home area from around 10:30 pm until after 4 am. Then when his cell returned to his home area, he called her 5 minutes later. Looks suspicious but circumstantial at best.
WaterGirl
@Tarragon: I definitely do follow those 3 on a regular basis. :-)
But in my defense, the hot pepper thing is different, it stays on your fingers even after you have washed your hands.
WaterGirl
@Jackie: In the movie, I choose him as the likely rapist and serial killer. And then he has sex with the dead bodies.
*watching the first Bosch where there really is a serial killer who has brutal sex with the men he has just murdered. Otherwise, I would still have written sentence one, but I doubt I would have also thought of sentence 2.
Doc Sardonic
I keep a box of nitrile exam gloves in my kitchen to use for food prep, especially for two items, raw chicken and hot peppers.
ETA: Also good for making meatballs and meatloaf.
WaterGirl
@Doc Sardonic:
I put each hand inside a plastic bag for those, an imperfect but workable solution.
Yes, I can see that gloves would be more helpful.
Anonymous At Work
Not so hard on Judge McAfee being run over. He has defendants ready to try for interlocutory appeals based on the volume of audience coughs during breaks. And he can’t afford a mistake.
Now, the proper course is, after all the evidence is presented today, rule that the motion to disqualify fails to meet the burden to show a reason to disqualify. And then set trial dates.
japa21
@Suzanne: Today is exactly the time for a protest vote. November is not.
topclimber
@japa21: Indeed.
EngineerScotty
@WaterGirl: And they indeed look like fools! Especially Merchant, who violated rule #1 for a trial lawyer: never call a witness to the stand without knowing what their answers will be.
Jay
@Betty:
technically, that is what the “PI/metadata expert” and the “defence” lawyers claim.
There are some issues with that claim.
How did a PI get the metadata? AT&T doesn’t just hand over other’s metadata to any Tom, Dick and Harry. One usually needs a Court Ordered Warrant for the data or a Subpoena to have the Cell Provider testify and be subject to cross examination. Chain of Custody needs to be documented.
So, was/is the data stolen? Were their Cellphones illegally scraped? Was the data provided by a Foreign Actor, like one of those illegal cell towers?
To sum up, with out writing an essay, the Defendants have been charged with using lies, threats, intimidation, illegal access, theft of data, falsified data, falsified ID’s, false witnesses, unqualified and lying so called “experts” to try to prove that TIFG “won” Georgia and that there was massive voter fraud.
Compared to all this fakery, what is some cell phone metadata claims that have not been entered as evidence or examined?
WaterGirl
@EngineerScotty: All I have to say to Merchant is hahahahahahahasha
Jay
@WaterGirl:
olive oil. Wash your hands with it, let it sit a few minutes, wash it off with dish soap. Leaves your hands soft and silky and the oil soaks up the capsicum.
beckya57
Unpopular contrarian opinion here. Willis had to know that going after Trump would mean her private life would be investigated. Having an affair with another prosecutor on the case was just incredibly bad judgment, as this kind of response was inevitable. It’s terrible that the case has probably been destroyed, but she shouldn’t have handed them the ammunition. Whole thing bears a striking resemblance to Clinton-Lewenski.
Jay
@beckya57:
it bears a striking resemblance to Hunter Biden’s Laptop.
Two of the “Defense” lawyers are married to each other.
Isn’t that also a “conflict of interest?”
Shalimar
@beckya57: It’s not an “affair” if she is single and he is separated and divorcing. It’s just dating. And people date others from their work all the time. Probably the majority of dating is between co-workers, because those are the people we spend the most time with. It’s so commonplace that it isn’t even an ethical violation.
Uncle Cosmo
@TaMara: Jeebus Frackin’ Cripes, hon, you oughta be wearing goggles for that. Pick up a cheap pair at a hardware store if yer gonna make a habit of this…
Shalimar
@beckya57: Edit time has passed, but I wanted to add. I am with you that Willis shouldn’t be supervising Wade after they started dating. Someone else in the office should be making decisions on his work and employment. That is something I would hold against her when considering whether to vote for her next time. But it absolutely does not affect her cases in any way, except maybe possibly to make them weaker if it turns out he isn’t competent but she keeps him on anyway.
TriassicSands
Not if they are Republicans. There are two sets of rules.
I thought everyone knew that.
I don’t think that the Willis/Wade relationship has anything to do with the legitimacy of the case against Trump, but I think Beckya57 is correct that Willis should have anticipated this or something like it happening. She charged someone who is totally corrupt and has always used every sleazy, dishonest means possible to delay, delay, delay and escape accountability. Now, the case is in the hands of a judge whose inexperience raises at least some doubt about whether he has any idea what he’s doing and whether the outcome will be in the best interests of justice.
Jay
@Shalimar:
yes and no. If you are in a direct supervisory or managerial role over the person you are dating, that’s an ethical lapse. Has been for a long time.
During my divorce I dated a co-worker. She was in QA, I was in Planning/Purchasing. So it was fine, until she was appointed by her MGR to the ECIB Committee. I was Chair. We met for 15 minutes 3 times a week. So I met with HR and her MGR to disclose the relationship and everybody agreed, that as Chair, I had no authority over her.
OTOH, our Chief Engineer was dating an engineer who was a direct report. That “could” have had impact on role, promotions and wages, (but it didn’t). They kept it on the Down Low, for 4 months, until she got an equal job at another corp. Then they went public. Of course, “we” all knew, because in our social groups, there were no secrets.
Jay
@Shalimar:
@TriassicSands:
He is an Independent Consultant.
You don’t get to supervise an Independent Consultant.
You either accept their advice, accept their advice with a grain of salt, or put their advice in the round file. You can also cancel the contract, but they usually get paid anyway.
WaterGirl
Lots of holier then now. The fact that Willis had a relationship with Wade does not excuse the witch hunt they are putting her through. Which no male, and certainly no white DA would ever be put through publicly like this.
This is slut shaming. And she’s not a slut.
Kirk
Capsaicin is alcohol soluble. I rub with rubbing alcohol or use an alcohol disinfectant gel first, then wash. it is not perfect (I say from experience) but for me it the only thing better is remembering to use the nitrile gloves and avoid rubbing eyes/face/etc while wearing them.
TriassicSands
@Jay:
I wasn’t arguing there was an ethical lapse and I don’t care what their financial relationship was. The point is not was there actually a problem, but could someone (Trump or the scum he associates with) make a complaint and create either a delay, a diversion, or an actual problem. Surprise. Look where we are.
evodevo
@beckya57:
Yeah…that’s my opinion too. Was VERY disappointed to see her bungling this on what is a case of the century….bad judgement on a personal level. (Caesar’s wife and all that) That said, of COURSE they were gonna come after her for even the most trivial of reasons, and I am not confident this will go anywhere…
Jay
@TriassicSands:
they were going to do it anyway, real or not.
If there is no there, there, then they just make up fraud shit and assorted BS that the Courts have to wade through anyways.
That’s what they did with their fake “Election Fraud” claims for which they are on trial for.
Miss Bianca
@Jay:
@evodevo:
Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny…
Particularly not if you’re a Black woman going after Donald Trump. I mean, come on…that’s just science!
Paul in KY
@beckya57: Hiring him post-dating/affair is the messup, IMO.