Jeffrey Toobin warns Fani Willis' case against Trump is 'going nowhere'

A Georgia judge ruled Friday that Fani Willis must resign or fire special prosecutor Nathan Wade

Jeffrey Toobin argues Fani Willis' case against Trump is 'going nowhere': 'Very good day' for former president

Former CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said Friday that it was a "very good day" for Donald Trump and argued the Fani Willis case was "going nowhere."

Jeffrey Toobin, a former CNN legal analyst, returned to the network on Friday and argued that the Georgia case against Donald Trump was "going nowhere," and said it had been a "very good day for Donald Trump."

Toobin, a former federal prosecutor, and Gwen Keyes, a former district attorney in DeKalb County, Georgia, joined CNN's Elie Honig and Anderson Cooper on Friday to discuss the election interference case against Trump in Georgia. 

"Today was a very good day for Donald Trump," Toobin said during his media appearance. "This case is going nowhere."

"In the extremely unlikely event that this somehow staggers to trial in August or in the fall. Think about this: There‘s another racketeering case in Georgia where jury selection, not the trial jury it‘s selection has taken a year. This case is never going to trial before the election," he continued. "It's an embarrassment, all of this. Fani Willis has hung on, but this case is going nowhere very quickly." 

Jeffrey Toobin

Former CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin returned to the network on Friday to discuss the latest in the Georgia case against Donald Trump.  (Screenshot/CNN)

JUDGE RULES FANI WILLIS MUST STEP ASIDE FROM TRUMP CASE OR FIRE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR NATHAN WADE 

Gwen Keyes, a former district attorney in DeKalb County, Georgia, said she respectfully disagreed with Toobin.

"I do think that there is enough evidence to go forward. I think that particularly the timing in this case, while we’ve had one racketeering case that has taken a long time to go to a jury, that’s an anomaly. In my 17 years as a state prosecutor. I’ve never seen it take 10 or 12 months to get a jury. And in the last RICO case that I’m aware of D.A. Willis taking to trial – with 12 defendants – she was able to get a jury in about four weeks. So, I think that’s the precedent that we should be looking at," Keyes said. 

A Georgia judge ruled on Friday that Willis must either step aside from the case against Trump, or fire special prosecutor Nathan Wade. Willis was accused of having an improper romantic relationship that she attempted to cover up with special counsel on the case, Nathan Wade.

Wade resigned shortly after the ruling. 

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis looks on during a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse on March 1, 2024, in Atlanta. (Alex Slitz-Pool/Getty Images)

KEY WITNESS IN FANI WILLIS CASE TESTIFIES HE MAY HAVE LIED IN TEXTS ABOUT FRIENDS' AFFAIR

Cooper asked Honig if the ruling was going to hurt her trial. 

"Absolutely," he said. "She survived, I don't think she won, but she survived and that‘s the most important practical bottom-line. She‘s still on the case. But Fani Willis is credibility is in tatters in a way that I‘ve never seen from any prosecutor. She’s now been reprimanded twice by two separate judges and the language, in this opinion, you never see this." 

"I mean, the judge said there are seven or eight attacks on her credibility, founded by the record. He said there are reasonable questions about whether the DA testified untruthfully. That means the judge is saying there’s a realistic probability the district attorney got on the witness stand and committed perjury," Honig said. 

Toobin chimed in again on the state of the trail and quipped it was "so far behind," that it would occur in the presidency of Malia Obama. 

Jeffrey Toobin back on CNN

Jeffrey Toobin, who left CNN in 2022 on the heels of his Zoom masturbation scandal, has been appearing regularly on the network in recent weeks.  (Screenshot/CNN)

Toobin, known in recent years for his embarrassing 2020 masturbation snafu, has appeared on CNN nearly a dozen times since the beginning of the year to provide commentary on various legal hot topics like former President Trump's ongoing indictments, Special Counsel Robert Hur's report on President Biden and more recently the Supreme Court's unanimous decision to toss Colorado's Trump ballot ban. 

He has most frequently appeared on "Anderson Cooper 360," making five appearances on that program since early February, according to Grabien transcripts. He has also appeared on CNN programs like "Laura Coates Live," "The Source with Kaitlan Collins," "CNN Newsnight" and "CNN This Morning." A former legal analyst for the network, he is simply introduced as a "former federal prosecutor." 

Fox News' Brian Flood and Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.

Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.

Authored by Hanna Panreck via FoxNews March 16th 2024