A new court filing accuses Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis of having an “improper” relationship with her top Trump prosecutor and financially benefitted from their alleged relationship. The court papers did not offer any further details and the district attorney did not publicly deny the claims.
Records obtained by a local media outlet also show that Mr. Wade was paid more than $650,000 in legal fees since January 2022 and that the district attorney is the one who authorizes it.
It wasn’t President Trump who made the filing. A former Trump attorney, Michael Roman, did so and is now seeking to disqualify Ms. Willis, a Democrat, from overseeing the case.
Mr. Roman accused Ms. Willis of having potentially committed “an act to defraud the public of honest services” due to 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 filing stated.
In multiple comments to media outlets, a spokesperson for Ms. Willis said that she will “respond through appropriate court filings.” No other comment was given. The Epoch Times contacted the district attorney’s office and Mr. Wade’s law firm for comment on Tuesday.
Mr. Roman’s court papers cited “discussions with individuals with knowledge” about Ms. Willis and the special prosecutor but provided few details other than that they were “romantically involved” before Mr. Wade was brought by her onto the case against President Trump and the others, including Mr. Roman. It also accuses the district attorney of bringing him 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 added, noting that Mr. Wade allegedly had a “lack of relevant experience” although he was 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 filing added. “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.”
The filing alleges the checks sent to Mr. Wade from Fulton County and vacations that he purchased with Ms. Willis might be honest services fraud, which is a federal crime. It further said that the two could be prosecuted under a federal racketeering statute.
In response, the 45th president 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.
Mr. Roman, President Trump, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and others pleaded not guilty in August to charges in a racketeering indictment in alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. Several defendants, including attorney Sidney Powell and former Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis, have pleaded guilty in exchange for plea deals.
Response
Multiple legal experts have signaled that while the claims—for now—lack evidence, if they are proven to be true, then it could potentially sink Ms. Willis’s case against President Trump and other defendants.Clark D. Cunningham, a law and ethics professor at Georgia State University, told The New York Times that he was skeptical of the court filing, saying that there was no evidence of a relationship between Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade, although neither have publicly denied it.
“If Roman’s lawyer has actual evidence of an improper relationship between Willis and Wade, it was incumbent on her to make that part of her motion, such as by attaching sworn affidavits from witnesses with personal knowledge or authenticated documents,” he said.
Stephen Gillers, a professor emeritus at New York University Law School, said that if the claims against Ms. Willis are true, her office won’t be able to provide “independent professional judgment” in the Trump case, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He further noted that the “public and the state, as her client, could not have the confidence in the independent judgment that her position required her to exercise.”
