Phang show at 12 00 p. M. Eastern right here on msnbc. The reidout with joy reid is up next. Tonight on the reidout youre confused. You think im on trial. These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. Im not on trial no matter how hard you try to put me on trial. Correct. But from the beginning, the right has tried to make trumps Georgia Election interference trial all about d. A. Fani willis. And today, the judge found no actual Conflict Of Interest, but did manage to gratuitously impugn her integrity. Also tonight, we need to have a serious Reality Check about the rightwing propaganda that trump is somehow gaining historic levels of support among black voters. He wishes. But we begin tonight with the most american of realities. If youre a rich white guy and especially if youre a celebrity and a former president , not only are you Above The Law, you are so Above The Law that if you get indicted for trying to overturn an election and thus overthrow the government, that case isnt even about you. Today, Fulton CountySuperior Court judge scott mcafee ruled that Fulton County d. A. Fani willis will not be disqualified from prosecuting the Racketeering Case against donald trump. Trump tried it. It didnt work. His case will be prosecuted in georgia. Maga inc. Failed to prove a Conflict Of Interest, perhaps because there was no Conflict Of Interest. But in making that ruling, judge mcafee, a Federalist Society aluminous managed to still help donald trump. Ruling that because of a socalled appearance of impropriety, either fani willis or the Special Prosecutor must step down from the case. And so special assistant District Attorney nathan wade resigned from the case just hours after the decision, writing, quote, im offering my resignation in the interest of democracy, in dedication to the american public, and to move this case forward as quickly as possible. Make no mistake, this was a victory for fani willis, since the rico Case Against Trump and his fellow defendants will go on. But the judges decision also came with a strong rebuke of willis, quote, lapse in judgment. This is where we need to pause. Fani willis lapse in judgment . Defense attorneys argue willis should have been removed from the case because of her relationship with wade, with whom she hired in november of 2021. But lets remember what this case is actually about. Willis has charged trump and 18 codefendants with racketeering for their alleged actions in trying to overturn the 2020 election. Four have taken guilty pleas. But today, what we got to do in america was ask questions about willis and wade. When their romantic relationship began, where they traveled and how much they paid for dinner, and about the woman prosecutors alleged had bad judgment. Were talking about everybody except the guy who tried to overthrow the government. The guy who in a taped call vaguely threatened georgias republican Secretary Of State and pressured him to steal an election. All i want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state. Its a bizarre world. Bizarre, yet predictable. Trump is either the luckiest guy in the world or this country was built for rich men like him to thrive. Two things can be true. Only in america can a case against a white man trying to overthrough an election morph into a debate about a black womans consensual relationship and the vacations she took. Judge mcafee said willis relationship raised the appearance of impropriety. An odor of mendacity remains. He also explained willis speech before an historically black church as improper because she accused of her critic. What does that have to do about the rico Case Against Trump and his codefendants . Nothing. Except that mcafee is up for reelection. He faces primary challengers. For a conservative judge, one who reduced the counts against trump last week and part of his Mead Craw Tour appeared last week on a Talk Radio Show hosted by a conservative trump fan while we were all awaiting his decision, no odor of mendacity there, i suppose. I mean, if you cant give trump an outright win by throwing out the case since the law gives you no reason to do that, what better way to still be helpful than to give trump and his rightwing Media Friends some talking points. He couldnt find anything unlawful about fani willis and her consensual relationship, so instead, he festooned his decision with gratuitous critiques of her behavior, tone policing her attitude, and level of black lady sassiness, certainly helpful for his political future and certainly helpful for trump and the rightwing Slime Machine who can continue to try to make this case about fani willis. If im being honest, its giving special counsel robert hur, the self declared republican prosecutor who threw in g Gratuitous Gruteaks of President Bidens age and memory, while explaining his decision not to prosecute him for keeping classified documents. Like mr. Hur, judge mcafee put a right wing spin on his decision that didnt need to be there. And it rose like a delicious foam for the maga cult to devour. Today, america is Breathilously Debating Fani Willis and not the adjudicated Sexual Abuser who defrauded banks and insurers, stole classified information and hid it in his bathroom and has half a billion in legal debt that his brokest voters will pay for him and who still, despite all that, faces zero accountability in america. Clearly which was built for men like him. The man who long ago said this about sexually abusing women, but which also seems to apply to every other criminal thing he has done. Its like a magnet. I dont even wait. When youre a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the [ bleep ]. You can do anything. When youre a star, you can do anything. If there is one thing that trump ever said that is true, its that. Joining me now is paul butler, msnbc legal analyst and a former federal prosecutor and katie phang, Trial Attorney and host of the katie phang show. Friends, i just have to play for you, because earlier today on morning joe, adnan spoke my feelings because i have been all in my feelings about this all morning. My poor team. I have been all deep in my feelings about whats happening in georgia. Let me let you listen to morning joe. This is a case about racketeering and not racketeering to like make some money behind a laundromat. This is a case about racketeering to end american democracy. And yes, there are people in that d. A. s office who as flawed human beings got into a loving relationship and took some trips. These are people who are normal human beings who made mistakes who are to remind us all, up against someone who tried to end american democracy, which is the substance of the case. Katie, i want to let you go first. Because i feel like the woman of color in this case, even the Media Commentary on it, is still putting her on trial instead of the defendants. Lets put the mugshots up. These are the people on trial, katie. Your thoughts. And thats what fani willis tried to refocus and recenter the conversation on when she was forced to take the stand to defend herself, and i want to say that although she waved any objection to a subpoena to testify, did she really ever have options left . Because when youre under attack and your personal character is being assailed in a case to adnans point, has nothing to do with her personal life, she had to take the stand. When she did, she said im not on trial. Im not on trial, those people that tried to steal the 2020 election, theyre on trial. And she didnt say it, but we all heard it, and dont you forget it. She was saying that to judge mcafee and to america. My biggest concern about this evidentiary hearing from day one was the Blanket Allowance of the weaponization of the judicial system to conduct a smear campaign. And thats exactly what the bread and butter is for michael ro00, the gop operative who is a defendant in this case. Hes being prosecuted for state rico and other charges. That is how he rolls. And so that is exactly why we ended up having a multiday, multihour evidentiary hearing about the personal lives of nathan wade and fani willis. The undercurrent of reality that a lot of people dont feel comfortable talking about is the following. I dont disagree if youre a prosecutor, you should be held to a standard, and a very exacting one and i believe paul would agree with me on this. You should be held to an exacting standard. You hold the liberty of people in your hands. You should be the very best you are as a lawyer, especially if youre a prosecutor. The undercurrent of conversation people are not having is the idea that if you listen to the commentary, it always devolved into the fact, did she take the cash and did she run to the atm with it . And what did she do with that cash, and cash boxes in your home . Who has that cash in your home . It was the devolution of something that should have been up here. It should have been here. And so the thing that happened with the mcafee ruling from today was, he could have ended the analysis at there was no actual Conflict Of Interest because the law would have protected that for him, and he could have stayed in the safe space and said the Burden Wasabout Met by the dfls, which he did say, and because of that, im not going to disqualify either of these prosecutors. But he didnt. And by going that one step further, going into the land of the Georgia State bar, for example, going into that space and saying that there was all of this wrongdoing, he not only gave kerosene on the gop and the trump world and maga, but he also then created as he noted that quote, odor of i dont even remember mendacity. Mendacity in which people tried to look it up would say it stinks. Isnt that what he said . Hes trying to Say Something stinks here. I think that in doing so, he never really allowed fani willis to cure that defect. He said you can cure this defect if one of your steps down. But when you label it that way, you dont allow really for the curing of any defect, do you . So then you allow this prosecution to continue tainted based upon the use of that language. Not only that. He went so far, paul, in his order, while he is, again, saying that she did Nothing Wrong, they found no wrongdoing. But what he then does is suggest other places that trumps friends and friends and trump himself might want to go. He talks about the state legislature, about the bar. Hes serving up fani willis for more adjudication, that maybe you should go after her law license, maybe take her to court. Maybe she didnt Tell The Truth on the stand, suggesting alternatives because he cant do anything about it. To me, it is giving a hur. Hes saying im still on your team, let me help you. Because i cant actually i cant twist the law to help you, boss they didnt break the law, but let me give you some suggestions. I found that offensive. Your thoughts. I agree. I want to cosign what you said in the setup, joy. Two things can be true at once. So its true that black women prosecutors like d. A. Willis are challenged more than anybody else. Not because theyre incompetent but because theyre black women. And some people like donald trump have a problem with that. Remember, d. A. Willis and nathan wade have done a lot right. They persuaded two grand juries the charges were wanted. They got four defendants to plead guilty. But the other true thing in this case is that d. A. Willis messed up. When she entered her romantic relationship with somebody whose paycheck she signed. So the judge was able to criticize her tremendous lack in judgment, thats what he said, he said her testimony was unprofessional and she made bad choices. And i agree, it was gratuitous. He went out of his way to say that she may face consequences from the state ethics commission, the georgia bar, and the voters of Fulton County. Even though at the same time, he acknowledged that the defense had not proven that ms. Willis conduct prejudiced anybodys right to a fair trial. By the way, he also is facing the voters, and he went on a rightwing radio show of a trump fan, one might question the propriety of that. Im going to say that as well. I also want to ask you, katie, about these other two pieces of information that we got today. That is these two things. The two letters. This was the offer to resign and the acceptance of resigning. This is from wade from the Wade Campbell firm and also from fani willis office. Nathan wade writes, and i think this is important to note, that in taking the job, he says you the team on this case and the entire office have my prayers for your safety and the success in the pursuit of justice. Because she also talks about the fact that he took the case in the first place, i compliment you, she writes, for the professionalism and dignity you have shown as you have endured threats against you and your family as well as the unjustified attacks in the media, in court, and your reputation as a lawyer. She also reminds people in her letter that she attempted to give the job, and so does he in his order, this judge, to someone else, the former governor of the state who wouldnt take the job because he was too afraid of maga. Too afraid of facing them and the death threats. He knew what would come. Nathan wade took the job when no one else had the courage to take it. That isnt talked about enough either. She didnt pick him because he was her boyfriend. She picked him because a former governor didnt have the cajones to do it. Nathan wade wasnt her first choice. That was clear. Thats uncontroverted evidence. And msnbc has reporting the reason we didnt get the ruling until today, even though judge mcafee had prepared the ruling is because he, the judge and his family, have been receiving death threats, so they wanted to have Adequate Security set up so judge mcafee would be safe. This case is completely tainted with the idea that if somebody tries to stand up to do the right thing, theyre going to get a death threat. We heard that from fani willis, we heard it from fani willis father. I love paul butler, and because i love him im going to disagree with him in the following way and with respect. There was zero evidence that fani willis did anything wrong. No evidence. Judge mcafee said there was no material financial benefit that was realized by fani willis. He said that there was no Conflict Of Interest because she would have never started in the prosecution to benefit herself. He made it clear there was Nothing Wrong that she did. That in and of itself could have ceased the analysis, and that could have been the end of it. It didnt have to go any further. What is the hypocrisy that really bothers me is this purity test that has to be applied to everyone else but the republicans. Its this purity test that you have to pass if you are not a member of the gop. And to that point, its Letitia James and fani willis that are always the ones that get more scrutiny because of who they are, but if youre a republican its okay because you can grab them by the you know what and get away with it. Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, paul butler, cried, screamed, had a breakdown in front of the world, and no one questioned whether his comportment in that hearing meant he was unfit to be on the Supreme Court. Clarence thomas and sam alito have taken what really looked like bribes from billionaires to take them on fancy vacations. They sit on cases in which they shouldnt. His wife is an insurrectionist. He didnt feel he had to recuse. No one says these men made mistakes. I lovingly disagree with you as well. What mistake did she make . People meet on the job all the time. They date people on the job all the time. This is not an unusual thing. Is it the best decision . I dont know. It doesnt seem like it worked out very well. But that has nothing to do with the rico case, sir. Im going to give you the last word. My friends joy and katie, im going to very respectfully disagree. When d. A. Willis was running, she ran against a Sitting Prosecutor who was embroiled in a Sexual Harassment lawsuit. He ultimately was successful, but d. A. Willis said she would never be in a relationship with anybody who worked for her, when she broke that rule, she opened herself up. This was in a sense a selfinflicted wound. And in that way, it was a success for the defense. I dont think they ever really expected the case would be dismissed. Thats always a long shot after a grand jury indictment, but what the defense accomplished is dragging d. A. Willis and her lead prosecutor through the mud, treating the prosecutors like they were criminal defendants. And more importantly, the defense got the lead prosecutor kicked off the case. And the judge implied he would be open to a gag order that would apply to the d. A. s office but not the defense. So trump would be able to say whatever he wanted and d. A. Willis would not be able to respond. So in a sense, i wish she hadnt gone down this road in that sense, it is a selfinflicted wound. Okay, i wish we could do this for the rest of the hour. We have to go. Were way over. We can fight it out on social media later. I appreciate you both. Coming up next on the reidout, truly what is up with this narrative thats tryi