‘FIBBING’ FALLOUT FOR FANI

Reputation denter

Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis’ reputation will take a big hit even if she isn’t thrown off former President Donald Trump’s election fraud case, legal eagles consulted by The Post predict.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee is weighing whether Willis’ affair with prosecutor Nathan Wade is grounds for taking the case off her hands.

He gave little away during the proceedings, making it difficult to read which way he will rule.

If Fulton County DA Willis is taken off, the case could be dead in the water, the analysts claim.

Even if Willis and Wade are allowed to continue, both may face discipline from the Georgia State Bar, a regulatory group for lawyers, one of the experts said.

Trump’s lawyers claim both prosecutors are guilty of perjury for lying on the stand, but it’s less likely either would be charged with a major crime like that, the legal eagles said.

After an action-packed hearing filled with salacious drama, the cases come down to a dry legal issue — whether Trump and his codefendants have shown she had an “actual conflict” of interest, or simply the appearance of one.

Trump’s lawyers argued even “an appearance of impropriety” — in layman’s terms, something looking really bad — is enough to remove Willis from the case.

Willis and Wade both testified their relationship started in 2022, after she had hired him, and that it ended last summer.

Wade’s former law partner and divorce lawyer, Terrence Bradley, texted Ashleigh Merchant, a lawyer for one of Trump’s co-defendants, that he “absolutely” believed the relationship began before Willis appointed Wade in November of that year. He said on the stand he’d been speculating.

The DA’s office has argued Georgia prosecutors have only been dismissed in the past when it’s crystal clear they can’t be fair to defendants — like if they have a relationship with a crime victim in a case they’re prosecuting.

“It all comes down to what standard for disqualification the court applies,” Anthony Michael Kreis, a professor at Georgia State College of Law, told The Post.

Kreis said most people who have studied Georgia “case law” — prior court rulings — would agree with Willis’ team that the higher “actual conflict” bar must be met in order to dismiss her.

“The defense’s argument isn’t without merit, but most neutral observers think that it’s wrong,” the professor said.

But he cautioned it’s not “implausible” Judge McAfee could use the legal standard favored by Trump’s lawyers.

The biggest threats to Willis are the charges she financially benefitted by appointing Wade — who then spent his salary from her office on luxury travels for them as a couple.

Willis’ explanation that she repaid Wade with cash “certainly sounds unusual to most individuals, which may be enough to have her disqualified,” John Felipe Acevedo, a professor at Emory University School of Law, said.

If Willis is tossed from the case, a state prosecutors’ council would decide which new DA, if any, would take over the case.

It’s unclear if a new prosecutor would have the appetite to bring the complex racketeering case against the former president and his allies, Acevedo said.

“Although the case will not automatically go away, it’s possible that no new prosecutor will be found, thus making the case go away in practice,” he said.

A trial date in the case — in which Trump, 77, is charged with conspiring to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election results after losing to President Biden — will likely be pushed past November’s election until at least 2025, even if Willis is allowed to continue, Kreis said.

The state Bar Association could “certainly” open a probe of both Willis and Wade, Acevedo said, with potential penalties including suspensions of their law licenses.