Trump Responds After Fani Willis Admits to Romantic Relationship With Prosecutor

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald J. Trump speaks at a rally in Laconia, N.H., on Jan. 22, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Former President Donald Trump has rebuked Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis after her public admission to having an affair with the top prosecutor on her election interference case against the former president.

Besides expressing criticism, President Trump called for the case against him to be dismissed.

Ms. Willis, a Democrat, admitted in a Feb. 2 court filing that she and Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she appointed to prosecute President Trump, are in a personal relationship.

Her filing comes in response to a Jan. 8 motion by an attorney representing one of President Trump’s co-defendants, demanding the case be dismissed due to Ms. Willis being engaged in an “improper, clandestine personal relationship” with Mr. Wade and “profiting significantly” from the relationship at the expense of taxpayers.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Atlanta on Aug. 14, 2023; Fulton County District Attorney Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, on Oct. 20, 2023. Joe Raedle; Alyssa Pointer/Getty Images

When the Jan. 8 motion was filed, and it was first publicly alleged that Ms. Willis was in a romantic relationship with Mr. Wade, President Trump said that the Fulton County DA had been “totally compromised” and the case against him should be dropped.

The former president on Feb. 2 reiterated this call in a scathing reaction to Ms. Willis’ Friday court filing, in which she denied any financial benefit from her relationship with Mr. Wade and rejected calls for the case to be dismissed as unfounded.

In a post on social media, President Trump wrote: “Fani Willis, the D.A. of Fulton County, just admitted to having a sexual relationship with the prosecutor she, in consultation with the White House and DOJ, appointed to “GET PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP.”

The former president alleged that Ms. Willis had exploited the fact that the case targets

“By going after the most high-level person, and the Republican Nominee, she was able to get her ‘lover’ much more money, almost a Million Dollars, than she would be able to get for the prosecution of any other person or individual,” President Trump continued in his post. “THAT MEANS THAT THIS SCAM IS TOTALLY DISCREDITED & OVER!”

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Sioux Center, Iowa, on Jan. 05, 2024. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Ms. Willis’ office did not respond to a request for comment on President Trump’s remarks.

Serious Scrutiny

Ashleigh Merchant, an attorney representing Michael Roman, one of the co-defendants in the case, alleges misconduct on the part of Ms. Willis in the Jan. 8 filing.

Besides alleging that Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade were engaged in an “improper” relationship, Ms. Merchant also accused Ms. Willis of having used funds meant for clearing a pandemic-era backlog of cases in Fulton County to pay Mr. Wade a large sum of money.

Documents show that Mr. Wade has been paid at a rate of $250 per hour for his involvement in the case, or around $650,000 in total.

The allegations of misconduct raised by Ms. Merchant led to a series of demands for scrutiny and accountability, including a resolution in the Georgia Legislature to vote on impeachment charges against Ms. Willis.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks during a news conference at the Fulton County Government building in Atlanta on Aug. 14, 2023. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Also, the Georgia Senate adopted a resolution that establishes a committee to investigate the various misconduct allegations against Ms. Willis, while the Fulton County Audit Committee has asked her to address the “improper” relationship charges.

In response to Mr. Merchant’s allegations of misconduct and broader calls for the case to be dismissed and for Ms. Willis to be disqualified, the Fulton County DA alleged in the Feb. 2 filing that the legal basis to force her off the case fell “woefully short of that which would meet the applicable standards.”

Ms. Willis alleged that the point of all the attention on her relationship with Mr. Wade was to generate “more breathless media coverage” and to “intrude even further into the personal lives of the prosecution team in an effort to embarrass and harass” her personally.

“This is not an example of zealous advocacy, nor is it a good faith effort to develop a record on a disputed legal issue—it is a ticket to the circus,” Ms. Willis wrote.

Further, she argued that there is no evidence to establish an actual conflict of interest pursuant to her personal relationship with Mr. Wade while denying any proof that she or he acted out of any financial motivation.

“The record before the Court falls far short of requiring disqualification or dismissal of the indictment,” Ms. Willis argued while calling for Mr. Merchant’s motion to be denied.

Elsewhere, the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee on Friday sent a subpoena to Ms. Willis in order to obtain documents related to the possible misuse of federal funds related to the case against President Trump.

In another accountability-seeking move for prosecutors more generally, the Georgia House recently passed a bill to discipline “rogue” prosecutors.

Unlike the impeachment resolution and the special investigative committee that both target Ms. Willis directly, the Georgia House bill is a more general measure that lays out grounds for discipline or removal of wayward prosecutors.

However, there has been speculation that, since House Bill 881 includes sanctions for prosecutors who engage in “misconduct” and Ms. Willis has been accused of such, the measure is part of a broader accountability-seeking thrust focused on the Fulton County DA.