Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Judge Scott McAfee’s requirement to run for reelection in Georgia could “add a whole new dimension” to Donald Trump’s election interference case in the state, a former U.S. attorney has said.
McAfee, a Superior Court judge in Fulton County, will rule in the case against the former president and 18 others—who are accused in a 41-count indictment of trying to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia—when it goes to trial.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all 13 charges against him and has said the case is politically motivated because he is the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination.
The case has been delayed thanks to a hearing that will determine whether Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney prosecuting Trump, should remain on the case after Michael Roman, a former Trump staffer and co-defendant, accused her in a court filing of having an affair with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor.
He also alleged the pair benefited financially from taxpayers’ money, as Wade has earned more than $650,000 from the district attorney’s office since he began working on the case and has paid, the filing said, for vacations for the couple.
Roman’s attorneys have argued that the relationship between the district attorney and the special prosecutor is a conflict of interest, and that Willis should be removed from the case and the charges against Roman dropped.
Though Willis and Wade have admitted to having a personal relationship, they have denied a conflict of interest, saying the relationship did not begin until after Wade was appointed to the case. They have also denied the allegation of financial impropriety.
McAfee, who is presiding over the hearing, will decide whether to remove Willis from the case.
Joyce Vance, a former federal prosecutor, said in her legal blog Civil Discourse Sunday that McAfee’s role in Georgia may also attract interest.
McAfee was appointed to the bench in 2023 by Brian Kemp, Georgia’s Republican governor, to fill a vacancy and must run for election this year.
“Presumably, Judge McAfee will run for reelection, which may add a whole new dimension to the past few weeks of theatrics in the Fulton County case,” Vance wrote.
Newsweek called the Superior Court of Fulton County for comment. A member of staff said they would relay a message to McAfee.
McAfee was Georgia’s inspector general from 2021 to 2023. He also previously served as a senior assistant district attorney in Fulton County and as an assistant United States attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
His campaign website says: “Scott is running for election in 2024 so that he can continue serving our community by clearing the COVID backlog, giving everyone their fair day in court, and keeping our community safe.”
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Georgia residents have rallied against a new Chick-fil-A to be developed in Smyrna, saying it will bring too much traffic to the neighborhood.
Earlier this month, the Smyrna City Council approved the development of a Chick-fil-A and 45 townhomes at South Cobb Drive and Oakdale Road in a close 4-3 vote.
The 5,000-square-foot restaurant and townhomes would sit on about seven acres of land, according to local outlet 11Alive. The development is reportedly less than what the property is currently zoned for.
Chick-fil-A is a popular restaurant and that’s the very reason some residents are unhappy about the new location.
“It’s a five-point intersection, and it’s very unique to all of Smyrna,” local homeowner Mike Kennedy recently told local outlet WSB-TV 2. “We just feel that the high intensity traffic generated, like a Chick-fil-A restaurant, is not suitable for the neighborhood or the land use itself.”

Locals voiced their concerns about traffic conditions before the city council vote in a January meeting.
“Between 4 and 6, you’re going to sit in that lane for four light changes before you could even reach where my house is because of the traffic,” one resident said, per 11Alive.
“You start running people through there going to Chick-fil-A and believe me, they’re popular. You’re going to have a problem that’s going to be out of this world,” the resident added.
Chick-fil-A led its quick-service restaurant rivals for the 11th straight year in the American Customer Satisfaction Index Restaurant and Food Delivery Study 2025.
The Independent has reached out to Chick-fil-A for comment.

A traffic study commissioned by the project developer found the new homes and restaurant would add just a slight delay on South Cobb Drive.
“South Cobb Drive is already failing. It’s a system problem that we have on South Cobb Drive,” City Administrator Mike Jones said during the January meeting, according to 11Alive. “This would add about eight seconds of delay there.”
The new development project is not a done deal. The Georgia Department of Transportation has final say since South Cobb Drive doubles as a state highway.
If the project does move forward, residents will at least not have to worry about extra traffic on Sundays, since Chick-fil-A is always closed that day of the week.
Your daily jolt of news and analysis from the AJC politics team.
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker speaks to a crowd during a visit to Atlanta in 2019. (Elissa Benzie/AJC)
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A 2017 file photo of U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (left) and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who died in 2020. Booker invokes Lewis early in his new book, “Stand.” (Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images 2017)
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For his first campaign event as a Democratic candidate for governor, Geoff Duncan visited a Black-owned coffee shop in Atlanta. (Patricia Murphy/AJC)
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Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (left) and health care executive Rick Jackson are among the Republican candidates for governor. (Arvin Temkar and Miguel Martinez/AJC)
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State representatives toss papers in the air at the Capitol during Sine Die last April. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
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State Sen. Brian Strickland, R-McDonough, speaks on Senate Bill 482 during a House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee meeting this week. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
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Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his wife Tricia appear before filing paperwork to run for governor at the Capitol earlier this month. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
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An image of the Democratic mobile billboard targeting U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter and other GOP contenders for U.S. Senate. (AJC File)
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The House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee listens to a presentation on Senate Bill 482 on Tuesday. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
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State Rep. Saira Draper, D-Atlanta, at the Capitol in Atlanta earlier this month. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
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Morning travelers wait in long lines on Thursday at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport amid the ongoing partial government shutdown. (Ben Hendren for the AJC)
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U.S. Rep. Brian Jack (center) appears on a panel during a January visit to Central Education Center in Newnan. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
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Toi Cliatt, Trina Martin and her son, Gabe Watson, say they were traumatized when an FBI SWAT team raided their Atlanta home by mistake in 2017.
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The mother of a teen killed in a high-speed pursuit is suing Georgia officials to change police chase policies as state lawmakers approve a controversial bill to overhaul metro Atlanta elections.
ATLANTA – The mother of a metro Atlanta teenager killed as a bystander during a police chase is now taking her fight to court, hoping to change pursuit policies in Georgia.
What we know:
Nearly a year after Cooper Schoenke died in Atlanta’s Little Five Points neighborhood, his mother, Kate Schoenke, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Georgia Department of Public Safety and Faduma Mohamed, the woman accused of causing the crash.
“This is about accountability,” Kate Schoenke said.
The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday, just weeks before the first anniversary of her son’s death.
Investigators say Mohamed led state troopers on a high-speed chase that began on Interstate 20, reaching speeds of more than 100 miles per hour before exiting onto Moreland Avenue.
According to investigators, dash camera video shows Mohamed running a red light at Moreland and McLendon avenues and crashing into Cooper Schoenke’s car, killing him.
The lawsuit alleges a state trooper acted with reckless disregard by continuing the pursuit off the interstate and into congested city streets and busy intersections.
While Schoenke said the driver behind the wheel, who was out on bond at the time, is largely to blame, she believes state troopers should also be held accountable.
She is seeking $1 million in the lawsuit.
Mohamed remains behind bars awaiting her day in court.
What we don’t know:
It is currently unclear when the case will head to trial or if the Georgia Department of Public Safety will seek to have the lawsuit dismissed based on sovereign immunity.
Mohamed remains in jail, but a specific date for her criminal trial has not been released.
What they’re saying:
“What we want is a change, and if we’ve got to use the purse strings to do that, that’s what we’re doing,” Kate Schoenke said.
Before filing the lawsuit, Schoenke said the state was given a chance to come to the table but declined, saying it was not responsible for her son’s death.
“To say that they have no responsibility whatsoever and a high-speed chase through a highly populated, dense community of Atlanta that ended in tragedy just does not make sense,” she said.
She said her goal is not the money, but to change how and when high-speed chases happen in Georgia.
“I’m not saying don’t pursue, but to pursue it 100 miles an hour, 90 miles an hour, 80 miles an hour. No one’s even going to hear the siren coming at you,” she said.
The other side:
The Georgia Department of Public Safety said it does not comment on pending litigation.
Mohamed’s attorney said he had no comment.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from the wrongful death lawsuit filed in DeKalb County, interviews with Kate Schoenke, and previous reporting on the March 2023 crash.
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