Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis admitted Friday she has a personal relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, a lawyer she enlisted to investigate former President Donald Trump, but insisted she did not benefit financially from the hiring and should not be disqualified from the sprawling Georgia case alleging that Mr. Trump and his allies tried to improperly influence the state’s presidential vote in 2020.
Ms. Willis, in a lengthy filing to an Atlanta-based court, said “any personal relationship” among the prosecution team did not harm Mr. Trump or his co-defendants and lashed out at “malicious” claims about her and Mr. Wade, who is going through a divorce.
“To be absolutely clear, the personal relationship between Special Prosecutor Wade and District Attorney Willis has never involved direct or indirect financial benefit to District Attorney Willis,” she wrote.
Ms. Willis‘s filing is the most direct acknowledgment of her involvement with Mr. Wade to date — a relationship that shocked observers and is complicating her ability to prosecute Mr. Trump and 18 co-defendants on racketeering charges related to the 2020 vote.
A judge required Ms. Willis to respond by Friday to a bombshell motion that alleges Ms. Willis had an affair with Mr. Wade even as he received taxpayer money for his work in the Georgia case.
The motion by Michael Roman, who was indicted alongside Mr. Trump, said Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade took lavish trips, He supported his claims with airline ticket records.
Mr. Roman argues the situation presented a legal problem for Ms. Willis because she stood to personally benefit from the prosecution of Mr. Trump and his allies.
Mr. Trump and others want to disqualify Ms. Willis from the case — one of four Mr. Trump faces related to his term in office — and invalidate the indictment.
The former president on Friday took glee in Ms. Willis‘ admission of a personal relationship with the man she hired.
“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. THAT MEANS THAT THIS SCAM IS TOTALLY DISCREDITED & OVER!” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The former president says, if anything, Ms. Willis is in more trouble than he is, though analysts say the matter is unlikely to derail the case completely.
“Most attorneys I’ve talked to see it as bad optics but not disqualifying,” said Charles Bullock, a politics professor at the University of Georgia.
He said Mr. Wade might be the most likely of the attorneys to be removed from the case, though it will probably be up to the court.
“That might be one of the resolutions, to replace him,” Mr. Bullock said.
The episode already has resulted in political consequences. House Republicans launched an investigation into the matter.
The House Judiciary Committee on Friday subpoenaed Ms. Willis on a separate matter, ordering her to appear before Congress over allegations she misused federal funds for “swag” — travel and new computers — and then fired a whistleblower who tried to stop her.
State GOP lawmakers in Georgia are passing legislation to scrutinize district attorneys, an effort widely viewed as a way to target Ms. Willis.
And Ms. Willis faces reelection this year and could be dogged by the relationship claims.
Ms. Willis has been subpoenaed to testify at a Feb. 15 court hearing on the matter.
Unlike federal court hearings, Fulton County sessions in the Trump case have been livestreamed on Judge Scott McAfee’s YouTube stream, making them appointment viewing.
Ms. Willis began investigating Mr. Trump three years ago based on his efforts to pressure Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to dig up enough votes to overturn President Biden’s narrow electoral victory in the state in 2020. A grand jury last year indicted Mr. Trump and his associates.
The former president faces 13 counts, including a violation of Georgia racketeering laws, solicitation of a violation of an oath by a public officer, and several counts related to alleged conspiracies to commit forgery, make false statements and writings or make false filings.
The 18 co-defendants, however, face an assortment of charges — there are 41 counts in all — that at times overlap with those against Mr. Trump.
The debate over Ms. Willis‘ alleged relationship with Mr. Wade is an unexpected ripple in the case, complicated further by the fact that Mr. Trump is the clear front-runner for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination as the case proceeds.
Political and legal pundits thought the Georgia case was particularly strong, given a recording of Mr. Trump repeatedly pressing Georgia officials over the election results and the guilty pleas in which three former Trump attorneys agreed to testify for prosecutors.
Now, the court must decide how to deal with the situation between Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade, something that could slow down the path to trial.
Ms. Willis rejected the idea that she benefited financially from hiring Mr. Wade, saying they do not share accounts or a household. She said payment for personal travel was divided roughly evenly between the two, with all expenses paid for with individual personal funds.
“While the allegations raised in the various motions are salacious and garnered the media attention they were designed to obtain, none provide this court with any basis upon which to order the relief they seek,” she wrote.
Ms. Willis‘ filing says there was no personal relationship between her and Mr. Wade at the time of his appointment in November 2021, and she says case law in Georgia does not call for disqualification.
“The existence of a relationship between members of a prosecution team, in and of itself, is simply not a status that entitles a criminal defendant any remedy,” she wrote. “Georgia courts have held as much for decades, in both civil and criminal contexts. Personal relationships among lawyers—even on opposing sides of litigation—do not constitute impermissible conflicts of interest.”
Ms. Willis tried to turn the tables on Mr. Trump and allies seeking her dismissal, saying there is a documented relationship between the lawyer for one Trump co-defendant and the attorney for another co-defendant who’s decided to cooperate with the prosecution — placing them, ostensibly, on opposing sides.
Looking to the Feb. 15 hearing, Ms. Willis criticized the number of subpoenas written for persons who might know anything about the relationship.
She said Ms. Roman‘s lawyers are trying to “garner more breathless media coverage, and intrude even further into the personal lives of the prosecution team in an effort to embarrass and harass the District Attorney 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,” she wrote. “It is a ticket to the circus.”