A smear campaign against someone else is not the right strategy when one’s own reputation is down the drain.
The past few weeks seemed like jarring chronicles of Trump’s indictments. At first, the special counsel led by Jack Smith presented their case for his indictment, charging Trump with over 40 felonies. The investigation of Trump’s involvement in instigating the January 6 U.S. Capitol attack reached its final phase.
Then Trump was charged with concealing classified documents after he left the White House in January 2020. Trump retaliated with not a defense for his actions but by offending the DOJ with more of his claims.
At this point, Trump’s alliance, probably including his six co-conspirators, is scouring through any resort to dismiss allegations /investigation against him. He has cleverly coined a term for the prosecuting team, “The Fraud Squad.”
This ad ran on a cable news channel in metro Atlanta between August 9 and 13. Medium Buying, which tracks political ad spending, reported that the Trump campaign spent $79000 on it.
One particular segment in the ad seems to be more stretched than the others. That one fraction goes to great lengths to disparage the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, Fani Willis. The ad narrator calls Ms. Willis as Biden’s new lackey, making the following allegations against her–
- Atlanta violence recorded 60% more cases under Willis’s jurisdiction.
- The judge cited “conflict of interest” because she filed a lawsuit against her opponent.
- “Prosecutorial misconduct”: Accused of issuing a fake subpoena.
- Involved in an “affair” with a former gang member.
Trump doubled down on these claims by fully supporting this ad.
What Did Trump Say About Fani Willis?
Fani Willis was reportedly going to pursue charges against Trump and many of his co-conspirators for criminally interfering in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election, to which Trump made his defense point by claiming that Ms. Willis is unfit to indict him with her record of having an affair with a gang member.
During Trump’s August 8 stop in New Hampshire, where he addressed veterans’ issues and other topics. He reiterated his remarks against Ms. Willis–
“They say there’s a young woman, a young racist in Atlanta. She’s a racist. And they say, I guess they say, that she was after a certain gang, and she ended up having an affair with the head of the gang or a gang member,”
“And this is the person that wants to indict me. She’s got a lot of problems.”
After the ad was released, Trump gained some confidence that Fani Willis might recant Trump’s indictment. When asked about what does he think Ms. Willis’s next action would be, Trump said–
“This woman is not a capable woman.”
“I mean, and maybe she’ll change her mind. I don’t know what she’s doing. All I know is she could have done it two and a half years ago if she was going to do something.”
He defended his “call,” where he claimed that the Georgia elections were rigged and should be overturned. He said in an interview–
“And this is about a perfect phone call, a call where I am questioning the election, telling them, in my opinion, the election was rigged.”
“And they’re saying I did something incorrect. I didn’t do anything wrong. I believe I won that election by many, many votes.”
What Is Fani Willis’s Response To Trump’s Claims?
As seen in the ad, they cited one of the sources for the information to be a Rolling Stone article. There are two different cases in question:
- Willis was a defense attorney for YSL Mondo when he was charged with an aggravated assault case in 2019 when she had her own private firm.
- Then, Willis opened a racketeering case against the rapper Young Thug and the alleged street gang Young Slime Life after she was elected DA.
Young Slime Life music crew was founded in the early 2010s by YSL Mondo and Young Thug. Nowhere in the Rolling Stone Article does it suggest that Willis was “involved” with the client other than representing him. Mondo also explained the kind of dynamics he had with Willis–
“I done had auntie-to-nephew, mother-to-son type of talks with her.”
Rolling Stone also confirmed with Willis, who said that–
“When I represented [him], he received 110% effort from me.”
“I advocated for him with zeal. I tend to meet my clients where they are. I hope you understand what that means. I want to see him do amazing things with his life, and I hope that’s where he’s headed.”
Fani Willis handled the derogatory claims in the ad with sophistication by sending an email to her colleagues on Wednesday–
“You may not comment in any way on the ad or any of the negativity that may be expressed against me, your colleagues, this office in the coming days, weeks, or months.”
“We have no personal feelings against those we investigate or prosecute, and we should not express any.”
She also sent a separate email to Fulton County leaders, stating, “I am sending to you in case you are unclear on what my staff and I have come accustomed to over the last 2½ years.”
“I guess I am sending this as a reminder that you should stay alert over the month of August and stay safe.”
What are your thoughts on the ad? Do you think Trump’s remarks about Fani Willis were crossing the line?
Should Trump be indicted for the phone call? Let us know in the comments section below.
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