CNN’s Honig on Fani Willis: Finding that There Are Reasonable Questions About Whether You Lied Under Oath ‘Would Be a Career Ender for a Normal Prosecutor’

BERMAN: “Again, I do think we should reiterate, based on I think how we are all pointing out the language in this ruling, the breaking news is that Fani Willis can stay on the case. She has not been disqualified. And if you want to get a sense of whether that‘s a win or a loss for her. It‘s Donald Trump‘s lawyer that slammed the judge. Our Kristen Holmes just reported that Steven Sadow said the judge did not afford appropriate significance to the prosecutorial misconduct of Willis. So Trump‘s legal team, not happy with this. That being said, Elie Honig, you‘ve been pouring through this ruling.”
HONIG: “So, if I’m the D.A., I’m taking this as a win. It is a win. She has survived. That is the most important thing here. I‘d be breathing a sigh of relief. But Sara earlier said there‘s some bruising involved. Wow, is there some bruising. Let me just give you the seven, I think, most severe lines — and these are really serious findings by the judge — about the D.A.. These are all verbatim from the opinion. First of all, there‘s ‘a significant appearance of impropriety that infects the prosecution team.’ Second, ‘a tremendous lack in judgment.’ Third, ‘the unprofessional manner of the D.A.‘s testimony.’ Fourth, ‘the odor of mendacity remains.’ I Googled ‘mendacity,’ it means lying. Fifth, ‘the legally improper speech,’ that was made in the church that Laura just talked about, ‘legally improper, with the effect to cast racial aspersions on the defendants.’ Sixth, ‘The D.A. has created dangerous waters for the D.A. to Wade further into.’ And finally, I think this is the most damning, ‘There are reasonable questions about whether the D.A. testified untruthfully. Any one of these statements by a judge would be a career ender. For a normal prosecutor, to have an on-the-record finding that there are reasonable questions about whether you lied under oath, that would be devastating. And we‘ll see what the political effects will be. The bottom line, the D.A. survives, but not without serious bruising, to use your analogy, Sara.”