Top Auditor Demands Georgia DA Fani Willis Answer Questions Over Allegations

(L) Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and (R) former President Donald Trump. Joe Raedle/Getty Images/Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The chairman of the Fulton County Audit Committee in Georgia demanded that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis respond after court papers alleged she engaged in an “improper” and “clandestine” relationship with one of her special prosecutors, Nathan Wade.

Specifically, the chairman, Bob Ellis, sent a letter to Ms. Willis late last week asking whether she engaged in a “romantic relationship” with Mr. Wade and whether she “misused” county funds. He also asked whether she “accepted valuable gifts and personal benefits from a contractor [or] recipient of County funds.”

A former Trump aide, Michael Roman, who was charged along with former President Donald Trump and others in the Georgia 2020 election case, filed a motion this month that made the allegations against Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade. Although the court papers provided few details and no corroborating evidence, neither party has denied the claims, and Mr. Roman’s lawyer said she has witnesses who are willing to testify.

In a Jan. 14 speech, Ms. Willis suggested that racial animus is playing a role in the allegations against her. She didn’t provide evidence for the claims.

“These allegations involve your decision to appoint Nathan Wade to serve as a special prosecutor in the matter in which former President Trump is a co-defendant,“ Mr. Ellis wrote. ”Mr. Wade is alleged to (1) lack relevant prosecutorial experience in a case of this type and complexity, (2) have paid for your portion of multiple instances of joint leisure travel, and (3) be in a romantic relationship with you that was not disclosed to the court or to the parties in the case.”

Mr. Ellis made reference to credit card statements from a leaked filing in Mr. Wade’s divorce case that showed that he purchased plane tickets that included Ms. Willis’s name. Reports say that he filed for divorce from his wife in November 2021, which was the same day that his Fulton County-funded role in the district attorney’s office began.

The letter also demanded that the district attorney’s office provide invoices, costs, fees, and other expenses since Jan. 1, 2021. Mr. Ellis gave her a deadline for Feb. 2, 2024.

Calls to Step Down

It comes as a Democratic Party operative who was involved in former President Trump’s first impeachment inquiry suggested in a recent interview that Ms. Willis may need to step down.

Norm Eisen, a former U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic who was involved in what was described as a secretive effort to prevent President Trump’s reelection in 2020, told The Hill on Jan. 20: “My view is that the law does not require Mr. Wade to step down, but I think it would be the wise thing for him to voluntarily consider doing so.”

Mr. Eisen has been described as an ally to Ms. Willis, a Democrat. He was also involved in the House Democrat-led impeachment inquiry against President Trump in late 2019 and served as Democrats’ counsel during the proceedings, asking various legal experts questions about whether the former president’s activity that was being investigated was illegal.

Elaine Kamarck (L), the founding director of the Center for Effective Public Management, and Norman Eisen (R), senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, at an event at The Brookings Institution in Washington on Nov. 10, 2022, in a still from video. Brookings Institution/Screenshot via NTD

The former U.S. ambassador said that the evidence against President Trump and the dozen or so other defendants is “strong” and “powerful.”

The district attorney doesn’t have any “legal obligation to step down,” he also said.

“Their management of the case has been successful. She was elected by the people of Fulton County to prosecute crimes, and this is a serious one that impacted her jurisdiction. So I not only think that she can remain, but I think that she must remain and continue working on the case.”

The former president, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and others have denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.

“Trump could not have done that alone, and his alleged co-conspirators, like [Mr. Roman] need to be the focus of these proceedings,” Mr. Eisen added, referring to the defendant who made the allegations against Ms. Willis.

Ms. Willis hasn’t indicated whether she will step down from the case. During her speech last week, she defended Mr. Wade and also defended her office’s handling of the case.

The Fulton County District Attorney’s office didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.