An attorney for a Trump co-defendant in Georgia’s Fulton County said there are witnesses who are willing to testify against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her top prosecutor.
Last week, defendant Michael Roman filed a motion in Fulton County Superior Court alleging that Ms. Willis engaged in an “inappropriate” personal relationship with a special counsel whom she had appointed, Nathan Wade. Few details about the relationship were provided in the filing. Neither Mr. Wade nor Ms. Willis has denied the allegations.
Mr. Wade has played a significant role in the case against former President Donald Trump and more than a dozen co-defendants. The court filing, in part, claims that Mr. Wade had paid for vacations with Ms. Willis while using Fulton County funds that his private law firm had received; Mr. Roman is seeking to disqualify Ms. Willis from overseeing the case.
“I would never have filed something like this if I didn’t have multiple sources to corroborate,” Mr. Roman’s attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, told a local news outlet over the weekend about the recent court filing. Meanwhile, the attorney said that she has documentary evidence and witnesses to back up the claims in the filing.
“We look forward to litigating this motion in court, where we can bring forward all of our evidence,” Ms. Merchant said, adding that eyewitness testimony about the alleged Wade-Willis relationship will be provided soon.
She said she spoke with a former district attorney’s office employee who said they believed it was common knowledge that the two were engaged in a romantic relationship.
A spokesman for the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, Jeff DiSantis, said that the office would respond to Ms. Merchant’s allegations in filings and in court. “We look forward to addressing the matter,” he said.
Mr. DiSantis said that he had never heard of any alleged relationship between the two, and there was no common knowledge about the matter.
The court filing against Ms. Wade stated that nearly $700,000 was paid to Mr. Wade’s law firm. However, Mr. DeSantis said the payments go back to October 2021.
A hearing on the allegations will be set soon, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said in a recent court hearing. An attorney for former President Donald Trump said at a court hearing on Jan. 12 that he’s “leery to move and adopt motions that make such allegations without having a better understanding or substantiation of the allegation,” referring to the lack of evidence provided in the court filing.
Response
In her first public remarks since the accusation was made in a court filing, Ms. Willis offered a vigorous defense of her leadership of the office and pushed back against critics. She was received warmly by the congregation of Big Bethel AME Church as she spoke at a service on Jan. 14, a day before the holiday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Ms. Willis thanked leaders of the historically black church in Atlanta who “didn’t care what they said about me” and told her “the invite was still good” to speak.
“I hope for y’all this week I don’t look like what I’ve been through,” she said.
Ms. Willis then appeared to suggest that racial animus was the reason behind the court filing.
“You did not tell me as a woman of color, it would not matter what I did, my motive, my talent, my ability, and my character would be constantly attacked,” the district attorney told the congregation on Jan. 14.
What the Filing Says
Mr. Roman accused Ms. Willis of having potentially committed “an act to defraud the public of honest services” because of what he called an “intentional failure” to disclose her alleged relationship with Mr. Wade, which she “personally benefitted from.”
“Accordingly, the district attorney and the special prosecutor have violated laws regulating the use of public monies, suffer from irreparable conflicts of interest, and have violated their oaths of office under the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct and should be disqualified from prosecuting this matter,” the motion states.
The Epoch Times contacted the district attorney’s office and Mr. Wade’s law firm for comment on Jan. 9.
Mr. Roman’s court filing had cited “discussions with individuals with knowledge” about Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade, accusing the district attorney of bringing Mr. Wade on as a special counsel without obtaining proper government authorization.
“Sources close to both the special prosecutor and the district attorney have confirmed they had an ongoing, personal relationship during the pendency of the special prosecutor’s divorce proceedings,” the filing states, noting that Mr. Wade allegedly had a “lack of relevant experience” despite being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by the county.
“Willis has benefitted substantially and directly, and continues to benefit, from this litigation because Wade is being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to prosecute this case on her behalf,” the motion states. “In turn, Wade is taking Willis on, and paying for vacations across the world with money he is being paid by the Fulton County taxpayers and authorized solely by Willis.”
In response to the allegations, President Trump wrote on Truth Social that the new filing shows that all charges against him and the others “should be immediately dropped” and with “apologies” from the district attorney.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times