D.A. Fani Willis acknowledges a ‘personal relationship’ with prosecutor she hired in Trump’s Georgia case

ATLANTA —  Fulton County, Ga., Dist. Atty. Fani Willis acknowledged having a “personal relationship” with a special prosecutor she hired for the Georgia election interference case against former President Trump, but argued in a court filing on Friday that there are no grounds to dismiss the case or remove her from the prosecution.

Willis hired Nathan Wade in November 2021 as a special prosecutor to assist her investigation into whether the Republican ex-president and others broke laws as they tried to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia’s 2020 presidential vote. Since Trump and 18 others were indicted in the case in August, Wade has led the team of lawyers Willis assembled to prosecute them.

Among the acts listed in the indictment was a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call in which Trump urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, to “find” the 11,780 votes needed to overturn the result. Trump has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers have said it was within his rights to challenge election results.

The filing was the first time that Willis or Wade has directly addressed the allegations of having a romantic relationship since the claims surfaced about four weeks ago in a filing by a Trump co-defendant.

In an affidavit accompanying Friday’s filing, Wade said that in 2022, he and Willis had developed a personal relationship in addition to their “professional association and friendship.”

But he also said he had never lived with Willis or shared a financial account, household expenses or any of his earnings from his job with her — an attempt to undercut defense claims of a conflict of interest.

Wade described himself and Willis as “both financially independent professionals; expenses or personal travel were roughly divided equally between us.”

“At times,” Wade said, “I have made and purchased travel for District Attorney Willis and myself from my personal funds. At other times District Attorney Willis has made and purchased travel for she and I from her personal funds.”

“I have no financial interest in the outcome of the 2020 election interference case or in the conviction of any defendant,” he wrote.

The Friday filing by Willis’ team came in response to a motion filed last month by defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who represents Trump co-defendant Michael Roman.

Merchant’s motion alleged that Willis and Wade were in an inappropriate romantic relationship that created a conflict of interest. The motion seeks to dismiss the case and to have Willis and Wade and their offices barred from further prosecuting the charges in the case.

Trump and at least one other co-defendant, Georgia attorney Robert Cheeley, have filed motions to join Roman’s effort to dismiss the indictment and remove Willis from the case.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over the election case, has set aFeb. 15 hearing on Roman’s motion. Willis and Wade are among a dozen witnesses whom Merchant has subpoenaed to testify at that hearing.

The Friday filing asks McAfee to dismiss the motions without a hearing, saying they “have no merit.”

The filing by Willis’ team argues that Willis has no financial or personal conflict of interest that justifies removing her or her office from the case. It also calls the attacks on Wade’s qualifications “factually inaccurate, unsupported, and malicious,” and calls the allegations raised “salacious,” saying they “garnered the media attention they were designed to obtain.”

Trump and other critics of Willis, an elected Democrat, have capitalized on allegations about the relationship between Willis and Wade, using them to try to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the case.

The former president has also accused Willis — and the prosecutors in three other criminal cases against him — of engaging in political attacks as he appears poised to become the 2024 Republican nominee for president.

Roman’s motion questions Wade’s qualifications to handle such a complex prosecution under Georgia’s anti-racketeering law.

His motion also accuses Willis of personally profiting from the case, saying she had paid Wade more than $650,000 for his work and then benefited when Wade used his earnings to pay for vacations the pair took together.

Roman’s motion did not include any concrete proof of the allegations of a romantic relationship between Willis and Wade. But in a filing in Wade’s divorce case, his wife included credit card statements that showed he had bought plane tickets for Willis to travel with him to San Francisco and Miami.

Also Friday, Rep. Jim Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, sent Willis a subpoena for any documents or communications related to her office’s receipt and use of federal funds, as well as any documents or communications referring or relating to any allegations of the misuse of federal funds by her office.

Jordan, a Ohio Republican and Trump ally, has sent several letters to Willis since September requesting information.

Each time, she has refused to send the requested information, saying the congressman’s requests violate the principles of federalism and separation of powers and accusing him of trying to interfere with a criminal prosecution.