Georgia
The Spotlight Shines Hot on This Trump Prosecutor in Georgia
A co-defendant in the Georgia election interference case against former President Trump filed a motion this week making a “bombshell” allegation: that Fulton County DA Fani Willis hired her romantic partner as the special prosecutor in the case against Trump, and that she and Nathan Wade both benefited financially from this arrangement. Media outlets are now diving deeper into Wade, with some questioning his apparent lack of substantial experience handling criminal trials. “My understanding is that he has no felony jury trial experience,” Atlanta defense attorney Chris Timmons tells the Wall Street Journal, which notes Monday’s filing “stunned Atlanta’s tightknit legal community and injected uncertainty into one of the highest-profile prosecutions in the country.”
That newbie status “would be concerning in any complex felony case, let alone one that is a multi-defendant RICO case,” Timmons adds. What Wade, a former private defense lawyer and judge, does have experience handling, per his own bio, are everything from car accidents and contract disputes to “a change in your personal life that requires representation.” Fulton County financials show that Wade has received at least $650,000 in legal fees from Willis’ office over the past two years or so—coming out to about $25,000 per month, the New York Times estimates. Wade filed for divorce from his wife on Nov. 2, 2021, a day after his contract with Willis’ office to serve as special prosecutor in the Trump case took effect. In a 2022 interview, Willis says she hired Wade as a mentor and “trusted friend” who could handle the heat of a high-profile Trump trial, per the Times.
A romantic relationship hasn’t been confirmed by Willis or Wade. A rep for Willis’ office had previously said she’d respond via a court filing, but as of Wednesday, no filing had been made, per the Journal. Meanwhile, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene filed her own complaint on Wednesday about Wade, asking for a criminal investigation into him, Willis, and what she calls an “illegal conflict of interest,” reports NBC News. Greene’s filing, submitted to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and the state attorney general, Chris Carr, notes that the allegations against Willis show a possible “unlawful partisan pattern … to illegally politicize and weaponize her public office” against Trump as he once again makes a run for the Oval Office. More here and here on Wade, who’s had his credentials under the microscope before. (Read more Fani Willis stories.)
Georgia baseball will resume its NCAA Athens Regional game with Long Island at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 29, after persistent rain—heavy at times—forced the suspension of the game.
The Bulldogs have a commanding 15-1 lead with nobody out in the bottom of the sixth.
The teams and some fans waited out a delay that started 7:14 p.m.
The game was suspended officially at 9:06 p.m. Long Island players were already grabbing their equipment in the dugout to depart for the team hotel before then.
The winner of Georgia-LIU will play No. 3 seed Liberty Saturday in the double-elimination tournament in a game scheduled for 5 p.m.
The loser will play No. 2 seed Boston College at noon.
The No. 3 national seed Bulldogs hit six homers before the game was delayed due to heavy rain.
There was a 53 percent chance of rain at 9 a.m. Saturday, according to weather.com, decreasing to 17 percent at 11 a.m., but there’s a threat of storms in the afternoon.
The Georgia Public Service Commission this week approved a plan expected to reduce utility bills for Georgia Power customers by a few dollars a month.
The commission said the change will generate about $285 million in total annual savings for Georgia Power customers, or roughly $50 per year — about $4.04 per month — for the average residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month.
The Georgia PSC voted Thursday to lower overall rates as part of the approved plan.
Georgia Power Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Tyler Cook said the decision will provide “real savings for Georgia families and businesses as the heat of summer begins and energy use increases.”
“At Georgia Power, our teams work every day to run our business efficiently and keep reliable and affordable energy flowing to our customers,” Cook said.
Cook said the outcome followed months of work between Georgia Power and PSC staff, including reviews, public hearings and input from residents and intervenors.
The approved plan is tied to a stipulated agreement reached earlier this month involving two cases filed with the PSC in February, the Fuel Cost Recovery case and the Storm Cost Recovery case. Those cases addressed recovering fuel costs used to generate electricity and expenses tied to restoring power after storms.
Georgia Power said its rates remain, on average, about 15% below the national average and that it is still on track to provide additional annual savings of about $102 per year for typical residential customers beginning in 2029.
ATLANTA – The Georgia Public Service Commission approved a stipulated agreement on Thursday to lower utility rates for Georgia Power customers starting June 1.
The regulatory body voted to pass the deal without changes, establishing how the utility can bill for fuel costs and storm damage restoration expenses.
State regulators approve rate cuts
What we know:
The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) voted 3-2 to reject several utility cost amendments before ultimately passing the overall deal. Under the approved agreement, a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month will see monthly bills decrease by roughly $4.03 to $4.04. Total annual savings across all 2.8 million Georgia Power customers are projected to reach approximately $285 million.
The deal reduces how much money the utility can recover from its customer base for storm expenses by nearly 60%, dropping the revenue requirement from $270 million down to $109 million. The agreement also extends the amortization of storm recovery costs, largely tied to Hurricane Helene in 2024, to 67 months, caps natural gas advance purchases at 20% over a 36-month window, and cuts $13 million from the company’s original fuel recovery estimates.
Accountability questions remain unresolved
What we don’t know:
While the PSC agreed to launch a separate investigation into how fuel costs are allocated, officials have not yet confirmed how much large industrial operations will be forced to pay in future rate cases. Consumer advocacy groups argue that massive data center companies are driving up fuel costs for everyday ratepayers without paying for the infrastructure upgrades they require. Critics note that it remains unclear if a future utility asset structure will successfully shift financial burdens away from residential homes.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from official press releases issued by the Georgia Public Service Commission and Georgia Power, as well as previous FOX 5 Atlanta reporting.
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