CNN’s Paula Reid Calls Fani Willis Ruling ‘Gift’ for Trump and Co-Defendants: ‘Optics Here Matter’

CNN chief legal correspondent Paula Reid argued Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis not being removed from a Georgia election racketeering case is actually a “gift” for former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants.

Judge Scott McAfee released a split decision on Friday in which he said either Willis or special prosecutor Nathan Wade needs to step down from the Trump case. This comes after Willis was accused of having an intimate relationship with Wade before he was hired onto the case, something they both repeatedly denied during evidentiary hearings.

“The judge, while he has not removed Fani Willis from the case, he does have some considerable criticism for her,” Reid pointed out minutes after the ruling was released.

While the judge said a conflict of interest was not proven, he did knock Willis for her “unprofessional” testimony during the hearing and said she made a “tremendous lapse in judgement.” Willis and Wade admitted they entered a relationship after he had been hired. They also denied accusations that funds he received went directly to Willis.

Reid argued on Friday that McAfee provided Trump and his team with “ammunition” because their arguments can focus on Willis and these criticisms of her conduct.

“It’s really a gift to former President Trump and his co-defendants because they’re not only going to fight this case on the merits, they’re fighting in the court of public opinion. Optics here matter,” she said. “He has tried to undermine trust in the justice system. And if you have a judge who is overseeing a case, calling the prosecutor, again, unprofessional, saying that she made a bad decision, she had a lapse in judgment, that is a lot of ammunition.”

Watch above via CNN.