CRIME COMMENTARY

Trump Co-Defendant Demands Fani Willis Recuse Herself Or Face Jail

By Will TannerApril 7, 2024

One of former President Donald Trump’s co-defendants just claimed that he has grounds to try to put Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis “in jail,” demanding that she either recuse herself or face “all lawful remedies.” That co-defendant is Harrison Floyd, and he claims that DA Willis violated Maryland’s Wiretap Act.

As background, Floyd is the former director of an organization called “Black Voices for Trump.” He faces three charges stemming from the 2020 election and its fallout, with DA Willis claiming that he was alleged in a plot to coerce a former Fulton County election worker named Ruby Freeman into admitting, falsely, to election fraud. He has pleaded not guilty.

Now, Floyd claims that he has cause to seek the arrest and detention of DA Willis. He claimed as much in a demand posted to X, writing, “I don’t want to put a black woman in jail. But if Fani Willis does not recuse herself from this case by noon on Monday, I may have no other choice than to pursue all lawful remedies. Make Fulton Great Again.”

That tweet included an image of an article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in which that outlet reported, “Willis’ office provided the Atlanta Journal-Constitution with a recording of a phone call Willis made that same day to attorney Carlos J.R. Salvado, who is Floyd’s attorney in an unrelated criminal case in federal court in Maryland. In the call, she explained that she had sent a representative to meet with Floyd at the jail when he turned himself in. Willis told Salvado that Floyd was offered a consent bond at that time, but he refused it.”

Further, Floyd’s tweet included a graphic describing The Maryland Wiretap Act, saying, “The Maryland Wiretap Act makes it a felony to record any telephone or electronic communication unless one is a party to the communication and all other parties give their consent.”

His oblique claim, therefore, is that DA Willis and/or her office violated the Maryland Wiretap Act by recording him without his consent, as Maryland, unlike most American states, requires that all parties consent to the recording. Maryland law is potentially relevant here because the alleged wiretap was related to a criminal case in Maryland.

A GiveSendGo fundraiser has been created to help Mr. Floyd pay his legal expenses. It provides, in part, “In case you didn’t know, Harrison Floyd is one of 19 defendants who has been victimized by Fani Willis, a Democrat prosecutor bent on advancing her political career. Harrison voluntarily flew to Georgia and voluntarily turned himself in to the police. However, unlike all of the other Defendants, Harrison is the only black defendant and the only one who hasn’t been released. He couldn’t afford a Georgia attorney and when he asked he was denied a lawyer. Harrison is also a veteran of America’s finest–the United States Marine Corp. He is a disabled vet and lives off that pension. For him to be treated this way is a travesty.”

Featured image credit: Harrison Floyd GiveSendGo