Georgia
At the end of the summer, A$AP Rocky released a music video that quickly took over the internet. The video for the song “Tailor Swif” was described as a surreal dream journey. However, anyone familiar with Soviet art, lifestyle, fashion, cinematography and aesthetics will notice many interesting references in the work. The video was filmed in Kyiv, Ukraine, just months before the war began. A particularly intriguing aspect is that the production company behind the video, shelter.film, is based in Kyiv. The company is co-founded and led by Albert Zurashvili, who is from Georgia. It’s even more notable that shelter.film now operates out of Georgia, continuing to work on numerous international projects.
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Recently, shelter.film received several prestigious awards for A$AP Rocky’s music video at the renowned Ciclope Festival. The project was among the winners in five categories, including the Grand Prix in the music video category.
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Billboard Georgia interviewed Albert Zurashvili, who shared insights about shelter.film and the experience working on A$AP Rocky’s “Tailor Swif” video. shelter.film was founded five years ago in Kyiv, with a vision established by Zurashvili. He explains that the talented professionals, who are now part of the shelter.film team, helped him bring this vision to life. Today, Gena Shevchenko and Marina Karmolit are his partners, and together they manage shelter.film. The company launched on April 1, a date that led many to believe it was a prank. “We were too busy launching the project to look at the dates,” says Zurashvili.
The core team at shelter.film consists of six members, and since its founding, it has grown into one of Ukraine’s most well-known production companies. Its international portfolio includes work for several leading brands, such as Chanel, Coca-Cola and Samsung. Now, shelter.film is operating worldwide with offices in Kyiv, Tbilisi and Brussels and is constantly exploring new horizons for their clients.
Despite its service-oriented business model, shelter.film is part of the creative industries, known for its innovative and artistic approach. In today’s advertising landscape, competition is incredibly fierce, with impressive videos being produced daily. Brands consistently launch creative campaigns that capture attention. Even in this competitive environment, shelter.film has carved out its own niche. A signature style runs through their work, showcasing that its creators treat advertising as a form of art. The shelter.film team aims to produce projects that leave a lasting impact on society.
“Shooting videos is generally not too complicated these days. But bringing it to storytelling within commercials with a high-end cinematography or just ripping eye-candy art is somewhat not as easy,” says Zurashvili.
According to him, the company strives to express its creativity. For shelter.film, the process is more than just completing tasks and delivering projects—it’s something that each team member truly enjoys.
“We are blessed to have the opportunity to get involved in socially impactful projects,” Zurashvili says. “We always support new names and evolving talents, as true progress in our industry lies in people, not just tools. Working in international markets these days, we are still getting top Ukrainian specialists involved in every project (physically or remotely) to keep those gems of people around and on track.”
As mentioned earlier, shelter.film has collaborated with many leading companies across various industries. Advertising projects, by their nature, consider numerous client briefs. When we asked how the shelter.film team manages to preserve the artistic value of each commercial video, Albert Zurashvili responded.
“It may sound tall, but we’re doing everything possible to avoid compromises,” he says. “We’re not overpromising but over delivering and never under budgeting. So we’re pretty straightforward about that — we can do it best within the budget line or not. No one wants failures, and we can foresee and avoid them. It’s not just a reputational risk – it’s actual damage for specialists and the image of the country on a global stage as a destination for films and celebrities. So we’re not choosing between commerce and art, I’d say. We’re creating commercial art.
“In recent decades, Ukraine has become a well-known destination for major brands and artists to film their best projects. For that to happen, service production companies collaborating with extremely skilled specialists have put years of sweat and passion into proving that this is the way to do it. After years of hard work and establishing the highest level of service in Eastern Europe, along with the most experienced crew, we started to see significant income for the country through all those worldwide projects. Many talented directors and other creative professionals are eager to bring their work to Ukraine or Georgia, as the level of achievement they attain and the excitement and involvement of the crews are just incredible.”
Marina Karmolit, Albert Zurashvili and Gena Shevchenko of shelter.film photographed for Billboard Georgia.
Ninutsa Kakabadze
Despite numerous high-budget commercials and various projects, one of shelter.film’s standout achievements is the A$AP Rocky music video. The concept for the video was developed by directors Vania Heymann and Gal Muggia, a duo renowned for their work with many stars of the global music scene, including Coldplay, as well as brands like Nike and Apple. Shelter.film has previously collaborated with these directors on various projects, including a Dua Lipa music video.
“It was a freestyle of developing and polishing the details of every scene on the go in a short-term and extra-confidential manner,” says Zurashvili. “Most of the crew coming to the set were unaware of who we were shooting for and were surprised when they arrived. A few weeks later, A$AP and his gang arrived in town, and we spent a few amazing days in Kyiv shooting this crazy project, doing all the tricks possible, and filming it on a Kodak 16mm camera. Working with film is always exciting, as you don’t see the final result until the material is developed and scanned. It was an unforgettable experience.
“No need to mention there were tons of negotiations that took us more than half a year of constant discussion, but it was definitely worth it. One of the highlights for us is that we involved an incredibly talented Ukrainian director of photography, Denys Lushchyk, in shooting this music video.”
In one of the scenes of A$AP Rocky’s music video, a famous scene from the 1977 film Mimino, by Georgian director Georgiy Daneliya, is brought to life. As Zurashvili explains, this decision was made by the directors. “It’s a fantastic reference from Georgiy Daneliya and I’m happy we have it there,” mentions Albert. According to him, A$AP Rocky was deeply involved during both the filming and post-production stages, and the entire team worked to a high professional standard.
For the shelter.film team, visual communication is an art form and a unique way of telling a story. This approach is consistent whether they are working on a commercial advertisement or a music video. “Every art form, even if it’s commercial, has a timestamp,” Zurashvili says. “All great stories should be told. Art is about freedom of expression. I appreciate any brands and artists brave enough to be on the cutting edge of history. The loudness of your voice brings power and responsibility to those who trust and follow you. Positive change can happen only where there is responsible, kind, and intelligent dialogue. As I said, we’re happy to have our role in it and always contribute with full responsibility.”
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Officials in Georgia and Arizona extended Election Day hours at Black and Indigenous polling places due to multiple hoax bomb threats called in, with some linked to Russian interference.
The presidential election race between Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump on Tuesday (November 5) became more serious as several polling sites in Georgia, Arizona, and other states were beset by bomb threats, causing them to temporarily shut down. Federal and local officials have stated that they have credible information that the threats were part of election interference operations from Russia to create voter suppression. “The FBI is aware of bomb threats to polling locations in several states, many of which appear to originate from Russian email domains,” the agency said in a statement released to the press. “None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far.” Other states reporting similar bomb threats include Pennsylvania,
Three polling locations in major blue areas of Fulton, Cobb, and Gwinnett counties are going to stay open later because of bomb threats originating from Russia.
MAGA clowns were celebrating the disruption until they found out folks will now be able to vote even later. #gapol pic.twitter.com/T2QHFPC8iP
— Blue Georgia (@BlueATLGeorgia) November 5, 2024
“We identified the source, and it was from Russia,” said Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. “They’re up to mischief, it seems, and they don’t want us to have a smooth, fair, and accurate election. Anything that can get us to fight amongst ourselves – they can count that as a victory.” There were more than one dozen threats to polling sites alone in Georgia, predominately in majority-Black and Democratic-leaning areas in the greater Atlanta area. In DeKalb County, seven locations received threats in one hour including churches.
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes also blamed Russia for several bomb threats that were called in at polling stations in Navajo Nation communities. “We also have reason to believe, although I won’t get into specifics, that this comes from one of our foreign enemies, namely Russia,” he said to reporters in a news conference. Fontes also claimed that the threats came from a “.ru” email address, but whether or not it was a spoof is yet to be determined. He did say that federal and state officials are continuing to investigate.
Georgia extended their polling hours to close at 7:45 P.M., and Arizona stated the issue wouldn’t affect their polling. Federal officials have noted that it makes sense for Russia to inflict chaos during this time and warn it could increase over the next two months. “If chaos is the point, the most opportune window to create mischief is the post-November 5th pre-certification period,” said former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency director Chris Krebs.
BREAKING – Over 40 different fake bomb threats have now been called into Democratic-leaning polling places
And they’re coming from RUSSIA
This should literally be THE story right now — it is blatant and brazen election interference to steal the election for Trump
— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) November 6, 2024
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Investigators at the Georgia high school where a shooting occurred confirmed that the suspect had been interviewed about past threats.
On Wednesday night (September 4), authorities at a press conference held after a deadly shooting at a Georgia high school confirmed that the suspect had been interviewed about past threats by local law enforcement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation stated that their National Threat Operations Center had received several anonymous tips in 2023 about Colt Gray, the suspect in the shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia which claimed the lives of four victims.
Gray, who was 13 at the time of the reports, had been interviewed by investigators from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office along with his father concerning those tips which spoke of the threats of a shooting at “an unidentified location and time,” with those threats containing photographs of guns. The suspect denied making those threats, which were found posted on an online gaming site. His father told the officers that he did have a collection of hunting guns at the home, but his son did not have unsupervised access to those weapons. The sheriff’s office then alerted the local schools “for continued monitoring of the subject.” It wasn’t clear if Apalachee High School received those alerts – the school is in the neighboring Barrow County. The F.B.I. issued a statement saying that local authorities didn’t have probable cause to “take any additional law enforcement action on the local, state or federal levels.” The state Division of Child and Family Services was also contacted, according to an AP News report.
Gray was reportedly apprehended by school resource officials after immediately surrendering after the shooting, which claimed the lives of two students and two instructors at Apalachee. An assault-style rifle was used in the shooting, authorities confirmed. Jackson County Sheriff Janis C. Magnum cautioned against the spreading of misinformation in a statement on Facebook. “My phone is blowing up with messages from people about social media postings about other possible incidents,” she wrote. “To my knowledge, there is not a list indicating any of this.”
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Rudy Giuliani has settled with the Georgia election workers who won their defamation suit against him after a failed bankruptcy plea.
On Wednesday (July 31), Ruby Freeman and Wandrea Shaye Moss, the two Georgia women who won their defamation suit against Donald Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani agreed to a settlement along with other creditors Giuliani owed. Giuliani had attempted to declare personal bankruptcy but was denied by a judge accusing him of not complying with court orders and not fully disclosing his financial assets. The proposed agreement order was submitted in a federal court in White Plains, New York. Adam Klasfield, a journalist and MSNBC contributor, shared the proposed order documents in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
In the agreement, Giuliani agreed to pay his lawyers $100,000 to help pay what he owes to the financial advisor for the creditors, Global Data Risk. The terms continue, detailing that the former mayor of New York City is to sell either his apartment in the city or his Florida condominium and to “maintain the properties in good condition at least comparable to their current condition, maintain property casualty insurance with respect to each property in an amount no less than the full replacement value of the Debtor’s interest in each property, and can’t sell either property without written consent.”The value of the properties is estimated at $5.6 million and $3.5 million, respectively. Global Data Risk is also allowed to place liens on the property to ensure Giuliani pays all of the $400,000 they sued him for. Freeman and Moss are now free to go after the $148 million they were awarded in December 2023 —$75 million in punitive damages and $33,169,000 in defamation damage.
The filing was made three hours before a deadline set by Judge Sean Lane for noon on Wednesday for all parties to submit proposals on how to end the case. In his initial ruling on July 25 tossing Giuliani’s bankruptcy plea, Lane wrote: “Even assuming that the Debtor does not have the funds on hand to immediately pay these bankruptcy expenses, he certainly has considerable assets upon which he can draw to pay such expenses.” The 80-year-old Giuliani recently claimed at the end of May that he only had $94,000 in cash and his company, Giuliani Communications had $237,000.
There are times when a performance gains power not only from who’s playing what music and how, but also from when and where it’s played. So it was with the Berlin Philharmonic’s 2024 Europakonzert, which took place on May 1 at the historic Tsinandali Estate in Georgia.
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As Georgians protested in the streets of the capital city of Tbilisi against a law that would regulate NGOs and foreign media companies in a way that many people there believe would benefit Russia – or at least follow its illiberal path — one of the most accomplished orchestras in Europe delivered a majestic performance of pieces by Schubert, Brahms and Beethoven, as if to culturally anchor the country in the heart of Europe.
The concert at the Tsinandali Estate was gorgeous – an afternoon show, performed outdoors on a sunny day, with birds chirping in the background. (Conductor Daniel Harding stepped in for Daniel Barenboim.) The prominent violinist Lisa Batiashvili, who comes from Georgia and is now an artist in residence at the Berlin Philharmonic, performed the solos in Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D Major with power and exquisite sensitivity.
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The next night, the orchestra performed the same show at the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet State Theater – not far from where some of the protests took place – followed by considerable applause and the unfurling of a couple of European Union flags. It was hard to miss the symbolism – not nationalism but something more open-hearted. The politics never overshadowed the music, which was powerful in its own right, but it was clear how much the music, and the idea of Europe, meant to the Georgian audience. Sometimes concerts are the continuation of policy by other means.
Georgia sits a crossroads between Europe and Asia – always geographically and now politically as well. Culturally, the country has always faced West – it’s mostly Eastern Orthodox, and it was part of the Soviet Union before it gained independence. In December, under the current government, Georgia officially received candidate status to join the European Union, which the majority of people there seem to favor and would place the country firmly in the West. And although the overlap of the Europakonzert and the debate about the proposed law is just coincidental, it seemed to hint at two possible paths forward for the country: A kind of international optimism or a narrower nationalism.
The Tsinandali Estate, which was leased from the government and renovated by the Silk Road Group, a Georgian company, has its own particularly European cultural history. The estate, which fell into disrepair during the Soviet era, is identified with Prince Alexander Chavchavadze, a Georgian aristocrat, who used it in the 1800s to bring to Georgia European-style wine, formal gardens and classical music. Silk Road, which has restored the estate to its former glory with an eye toward historic preservation, now operates two hotels there, as well as nearby vineyard and a fall classical music festival that features young performers from across the Caucasus region. This, too, is profoundly optimistic.
“We thought, ‘How can we bring life to’” the estate, says George Ramishvili, the Silk Road Group’s founder and chairman. “And we chose classical music because it’s related to history.”
Europakonzert
Stephan Rabold
Years ago, Ramishvili connected with the Berlin Philharmonic through Batiashvili, and they started discussing brining the annual Europakonzert to Georgia. “It’s the perfect music but also the message for peace – we’re both about a united Europe,” Ramishvili says. “Europe is Georgia and Georgia is Europe.”
Everything about the concerts brought that idea home. At both shows, the audience seemed to be mostly middle-class Georgians, probably a few years older and a bit more fortunate than most of the protesters, who skewed younger. But they both want more engagement with a Europe that has put aside its conflicts. The European Union has its share of problems, but it represents a more compelling vision of the future than anything coming out of Russia.
None of this hung over the concerts, though. The annual Europakonzert, which is usually but not always performed in an EU member state, is symbolic, for a variety of reasons, including where it happens and the role of Berlin, which has become the cultural capital of Europe. But anyone who didn’t understand the politics, or simply wanted to forget them, would have found the shows just as compelling without that context. At Tsinandali, the stone walls of the amphitheater seemed to magnify the sound, as birdsong broke through the quiet parts of Schubert’s The Magic Harp. Batiashvili brought a richness of tonal color to Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D Major, especially in the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet State Theater, where Harding brought out the orchestra’s power.
Music diplomacy has been a tradition since at least the 1950s, when the U.S. State Department arranged for “Jazz Ambassadors,” most famously Louis Armstrong, to tour the world. Musicians seldom solve international disagreements, and it’s not their job to do so, but shows like this bring countries closer together in a way that shows what they have to offer one another. These two shows made a powerful case for both the value of the European idea and its potential for expansion.
Europakonzert
Stephan Rabold
Nutsa Buzaladze received raves from the American Idol judges when she competed last year on season 21 of the long-running television talent series. Eliminated from the top 12 on April 30, 2023, the singer from the nation of Georgia didn’t sit still. This week she will perform on another televised song contest when she represents her country in the Eurovision Song Contest, which normally reaches a worldwide audience in the hundreds of millions.
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One year after interviewing Nutsa in Hollywood during her time on Idol, Billboard sat down with her again, this time in Malmö, Sweden, to talk about her life since then and what will be the biggest moment of her career so far.
When we talked last year in California, I suggested you sing for Georgia in Eurovision, and here you are. What have the last 12 months been like for you?
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First of all, American Idol was the biggest thing I’ve done in my life. They gave me an open door to new opportunities. Like Lionel [Richie] said to me, “It doesn’t matter what number, you’re a star.” American Idol was a starter for my international career. Being on Idol makes your life much easier because people look at you and say you’re the real deal. I have an agent in America and he had me perform the National Anthem at a Lakers game and a Dodgers game. I had an amazing summer living in Miami and was in the Hamptons for a weekend when a producer [with Georgia’s national broadcaster] called and said, “Nutsa, we are thinking of having you represent your country at Eurovision. When are you coming to Georgia?”
So you said yes to Eurovision?
I told them I only had one condition: I’m going to be involved with every little detail. And they said, “Yes, for sure. We want you to be at your best. We want you to sing the song that you love to sing.” So I had the freedom to be myself and not someone that they want me to be and that is the greatest thing they’ve done for me. And it’s coming from the director of the broadcast.
You’re singing “Firefighter” as the Georgian entry. Who found the song?
We had an open call. We received amazing songs, and we listened to all 300 of them. We had three favorites, and we chose one that I feel very confident in. “Firefighter” was from Darko Dimitrov, a Macedonian producer who has a lot of experience in Eurovision. The writer of the lyrics was Ada Skitka from Estonia. I really loved the song, but only the chorus. I flew from Miami to Macedonia, and we spent three days in the studio finishing the song. It was a very creative process.
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What does representing Georgia in Eurovision mean to you?
I have loved my country ever since I was a very little girl. Because of my country’s history and our people, I want to make them proud. I want to show the world how great Georgia is and how many talented people we have. We are a very small nation and that makes me more motivated to put Georgia on the map everywhere I can. Because especially in America, they think that Georgia is a state.
You competed on Idol and now you’re competing again in Eurovision. What are your thoughts about the competition?
I don’t really think of it as a competition, to be honest. I do it for my career and I do it to become better and to have more experience, because all my life I wanted to have a career where you can go everywhere and sing everywhere. Not only in my country, but everywhere. I think big competitions give you the possibilities to be heard by millions and millions of people and that’s the main reason I’m doing it. I don’t like to compete with anybody. The only person I’m competing with always is myself, because I always want to do something bigger and better.
What was the main lesson you learned during your run on American Idol?
On American Idol, I realized that I had done hard work before, but Idol is the hardest work. I pushed myself to the limits. When I was in my hotel room, I cried because I was so exhausted from the emotions. By the time we were doing the live shows, it was better. I became friends with the contestants and then I became friends with the crew.
What are your plans for your career after Eurovision?
My new single is coming out on May 12. I shot a music video before flying to Malmö. The song is called “Mother’s Day” and I’m releasing it on Mother’s Day. It’s about my mom and she is in the music video with me. I’m sure a lot of people are going to cry because I love my mother very much and I wanted to have a song about her.
What else lies ahead?
There is other news I haven’t told anybody, so I’ve saved it for Billboard. I’ve been invited to audition for Broadway on May 11 [the same day as Eurovision]. So I need to go to New York as soon as possible for that.
Can you tell me for what show?
I don’t think they want me to. It’s a modern musical. The character that they want me to play is very near to who I am in real life and the voice of that character in the songs is my style.
Nutsa Buzaladze will sing “Firefighter” in the first semi-final of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest on Tuesday (May 7) in Malmö, Sweden. The live broadcast can be seen in the U.S. on Peacock at 3 p.m. ET. If “Firefighter” is one of 10 songs from the 15 semi-final entries that qualifies for the grand final, she will perform the song again on Saturday (May 11). That four-hour show will be seen on Peacock, also at 3 p.m. ET.
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A judge has ruled that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis can continue to prosecute the Donald Trump election interference case in Georgia. The catch is the former love interest of Fani Willis, Nathan Wade, must step down from the case for Willis to proceed.
Several outlets, including The Hill, have been covering the hearings featuring DA Fani Willis and Nathan Wade, which was an issue raised by Trump’s legal team. Willis did not previously disclose the nature of her former relationship with Wade, and both took to the stand sharing with the court the happenings in their brief romantic union.
This was largely seen as an attempt by Trump’s team to not only get Willis off the case but to have the whole matter thrown out in court. However, the case is still going forward as planned, of course, with Wade stepping aside. Wade can also remain as a prosecutor but Willis would have to step aside as Judge Scott McAfee ruled it would be a conflict of interest.
As expected, Trump’s team believes the judge didn’t do enough to change the course for their client and issued a statement pushing back on the decision.
“While respecting the Court’s decision, we believe that the Court did not afford appropriate significance to the prosecutorial misconduct of Willis and Wade, including the financial benefits, testifying untruthfully about when their personal relationship began, as well as Willis’ extrajudicial MLK ‘church speech,’ where she played the race card and falsely accused the defendants and their counsel of racism,” Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead defense counsel in the case, shared in a statement.
A statement has not emerged from Wilis or her team regarding Judge McAfee’s decision.
On X, reactions to the news that DA Fani Willis will be allowed to remain on the Trump election interference case with conditions began cropping up. We’ve got them listed below.
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Nicole Fegan, a defense attorney whose client was connected to the Young Stoner Life list of codefendants, was arrested on unrelated gang charges on Friday (Feb. 16) in Georgia. Fegan, who has several videos online of her discussing her career and connection to clients, is facing multiple gang-related charges that is not connected to the YSL matter despite the chatter online.
The arrest of Nicole Fegan is a fast-developing story so we’ll try to pack in as much as we know currently. Fegan was charged back in February of last year after making contact with the suspect of a Sept. 27, 2022 shooting case that left one man dead.
As local outlet WSB-TV reports, Fegan was arrested for contacting the male suspect in the aforementioned shooting, which contained two victims, in Northwest Atlanta. Fegan was arrested in Gwinnett County and will be transported to Fulton County based on warrants that highlighted she was facing charges of participating in criminal street gang activity and criminal solicitation to commit the offense of tampering with evidence.
Police told WSB-TV that Fegan contacted the suspect by phone but was not part of their legal team thus sparking the warrants for arrest. Fegan alerted the man that there were warrants out for his arrest and that she found out about the warrants during a hearing while instructing the suspect to rid himself of his phone so he couldn’t be tracked digitally.
Fegan did not represent Young Thug in the YSL RICO case. Her client, Tenquarius Mender, had his case split from the wider YSL trial. That said, the arrest of Fegan has caused a stir online with some believing it will have some impact on the YSL RICO trial.
On X, formerly Twitter, the reactions have been pouring in. We’ve got them listed below.
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Photo: @feganlaw / Instagram
11. Just in case there are any mixups.
14. Getting the important questions out of the way.
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Fani Willis, the Fulton County District Attorney who has brought an election tampering case in Georgia against former President Donald Trump, took the stand Thursday (Feb. 15) in a hearing connected to the case. Fani Willis took questions along with countering attacks on her character as Trump and his co-defendants are scrambling to have Willis dropped from the prosecution and have the matter tossed out of court.
Fani Willis is facing allegations from Trump’s defense attorney Ashley Merchant who claims that Willis used taxpayer money for personal vacations. Also at the center of questioning is Willis’ romantic relationship with special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, which Trump and his fellow co-defendants believe are grounds to have Willis and Wade removed from the case.
Willis and Wade admitted to the relationship, although testimony from those reportedly close to the pair professionally says that the timing of their relationship contradicted their recollections of their time together. When challenged on why they didn’t reveal the nature of their romance, both Willis and Wade stated that their connection was private.
In one especially tense moment of the hearing, Willis reminded the court that this was simply a hearing of facts and that she was not on trial despite the grilling she and Wade were facing. In answering why she didn’t share financial and personal records with the defense, Willis dropped one of the top zingers of the day.
“I object to you getting records. You’ve been intrusive into peoples’ personal lives. You’re confused. You think I’m on trial. These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. I’m not on trial, no matter how hard you put me on trial,” Willis said.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a live update of the hearing that can be found here.
On X, formerly Twitter, reactions are cropping in from all sides.
Read the replies below.
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A lawyer who once represented T.I. is at the center of former president Donald Trump’s defense team for his election interference case in Georgia.
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As the criminal case against Donald Trump brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is underway, Steven Sadow, the leading defense lawyer is beginning to make his presence known. He argued before Judge Scott McAfee Friday (Dec. 1), that the court should consider throwing out the 13 felony charges against Trump, stating that his false claims concerning the 2020 presidential election he lost were protected by the First Amendment.
Sadow is best known as a litigator specializing in white-collar cases and representing high-profile figures. One of them, veteran Atlanta rapper and actor T.I., has heaped praise on Sadow in the past by referring to him as “probably the best criminal defense attorney of his time.” In addition, T.I. proclaimed him a person with a “slight hint of genius” after Sadow got him a plea deal with a one-year sentence for gun charges. Sadow was brought on to replace Drew Findling on the day that Donald Trump voluntarily surrendered to Fulton County authorities.
Steven Sadow has defended other notable clients such as Rick Ross (who name-drops him in his 2019 song “Turnpike Ike”), National Football League star Ray Lewis and recently represented Gunna, who was indicted along with Young Thug by Fulton County in a sweeping RICO case last year. Sadow has publicly stated that he’s not a Donald Trump supporter in a post made on X, formerly Twitter, back in 2017.
Sadow, 69, has been reserved about the current case, refusing to respond to press inquiries about his role on the defense team. But he appeared on an episode of the expediTIously with Tip “T.I.” Harris podcast last year to talk about his experiences as a defense attorney, stating his desire to limit the overreach of federal power against the people for being a lawyer. “They’ve got to be protected against the government,” he said.
In the hour-long show, T.I. asked him a pertinent question. “What are the intricacies of cooperation? Like, how do you arrive at that conclusion?”
“When I don’t think I can win,” Sadow replied. “If I don’t think my client’s got a chance of winning in the courtroom, and the risk of trial far, far exceeds the chances of me being successful, I won’t tell them to take the risk.”
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