Nearly two years after the bombshell court filing alleged Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis engaged in an “improper” romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she hired to work on the election interference case against Donald Trump and his codefendants, the case is officially closed.
On Wednesday’s show, Megyn was joined by MK True Crime contributors Dave Aronberg and Phil Holloway to discuss the dramatic proceedings finally coming to an end.
Case Closed
The Megyn Kelly Show was among the first to report on attorney Ashleigh Merchant’s stunning filing in early January 2023, and Megyn and her team closely followed the saga through every twist and turn (you can see some of that early coverage in the video above).
“It was this case that brought us the infamous mugshot that Mr. Trump ended up using on campaign merchandise and now hangs at the White House,” Megyn noted. “But then Fani Willis blew up the entire case after it was discovered she had a romantic relationship with the prosecutor who she hired to lead it.”
And it all officially came to a rather anticlimactic end last Wednesday when Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee dismissed the remaining charges. The move came after the lead prosecutor, who took over the case after Willis was disqualified, decided he could not advance it any further.
On Tuesday, Peter Skandalakis, a prosecutor who assigned himself the case after failing to find someone else to take it over, filed an entry of nolle prosequi “after a thorough examination of the case file, consideration of applicable statutory and case law, and prior to submission to a jury.”
“There is no realistic prospect that a sitting President will be compelled to appear in Georgia to stand trial on the allegations in this indictment,” Skandalakis wrote, in part. “Continuing this litigation under these circumstances would neither serve the citizens of Georgia nor fulfill our statutory obligations… In my professional judgment, the citizens of Georgia are not served by pursuing this case in full for another five to ten years.”
Early Predictions
Holloway, who became a regular guest on The Megyn Kelly Show as the Willis-Wade drama played out, predicted long ago that this is how the case end. Aronberg was less sure, which Megyn ribbed him about on Wednesday.
“You’re right to call me out because [at the beginning] I thought – like others did on my side of the aisle – that there may be some issues here but the underlying case is strong; it won’t affect it,” Aronberg admitted. “And then as more evidence came out of this and possible lying in court, I was like, yeah, this is going to jeopardize this whole thing. Although, I did correctly predict that the judge would remove Nathan Wade rather than Fani Willis.”
To that point, Megyn noted that many in legacy media once fawned over Willis and her case. She pointed to Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe waxing poetic in The Atlantic that “Willis’ determination to deliver on her responsibility to the rule of law exemplifies a civil servant doing her duty without fear or favor.” And former prosecutor Joyce Vance, who told MSNBC the prosecution “looks like a slam dunk.”
Outstanding Questions
It is worth noting that of Trump’s 18 codefendants in the case, four took plea deals before any of the conflicts between Willis and Wade came to light. Holloway said those agreements, which came with lesser chargers, will likely remain in place.
“If there were a prosecutor on the case who was willing to go back and somehow undo these things, that might be a possibility. But, in Georgia, there are very strict time limits. Those time limits have long since passed,” he explained. “I know of at least one, maybe two, that have actually tried to withdraw the plea, and the trial judge has denied it… I think that those people will forever remain either convicted or perhaps get what’s called their first offender discharge.”
In retrospect, Megyn said those four would have been wise to put “their faith in Ashleigh Merchant,” who was representing fellow defendant Michael Roman and turned out to be “a local lawyer who knew the local courts, the local players, and knew Fani Willis a little too well for Fani’s taste.”
Ultimately, Megyn had a reminder for Willis using the wisdom she espoused on the witness stand back in February 2023: “Fani, a man is not a plan, and you chose the wrong man to lay down with. You got the fleas, and now everyone’s free.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Aronberg and Holloway by tuning in to episode 1,205 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.