After claiming racism from the pulpit of a church, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis finally admitted that the allegations made against her last month about her affair with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she appointed to lead the election interference case against former President Donald Trump, were, in fact, true.
Willis disclosed the relationship in response to a motion filed last month by Trump co-defendant Michael Roman seeking to disqualify Willis and her entire office from the case, according to The New York Times.
Roman alleged Willis improperly hired her “boyfriend,” Wade, despite his lack of qualifications and benefited financially from the relationship.
Fani Willis acknowledges a ‘personal relationship’ with prosecutor she hired in Trump’s Georgia case (from @AP) https://t.co/4GcdjuntcW
— UnitedFrontIntl (@UnitedFrontIntl) February 3, 2024
In her filing, Willis acknowledged a “personal relationship” with Wade but stated it only began in 2022, after she had already hired him in November 2021.
Well, that doesn’t explain why Willis would hire someone whom the New York Times described as having “scant evidence that he prosecuted major criminal cases, with no evidence that he has handled a major political corruption case or one involving the state’s complicated racketeering statute, known as RICO” for this case.
According to the Times, Wade’s prior cases involved issues such as divorce, child custody and support, car accidents and personal injury.
His criminal defense clients faced charges including aggravated assault, armed robbery, rape, drug trafficking and financial fraud.
It’s not the kind of resume you would expect from a lawyer called upon to assist in the prosecution of the former president of the United States in one of the most high-profile cases of the century.
Should the Georgia case against Trump be tossed?
One case Wade represented involved a woman who found glass in her food at a chain restaurant, while another case in 2021 was a “slip and fall.”
In their filings, Willis and Wade asserted that they evenly split costs for personal trips they took together.
Even if that is true, it would be much easier for Wade to afford his trips with Willis, thanks to his upgraded salary of upwards of $650,000, according to Forbes, a lifestyle afforded to him by his lover and boss, Ms. Willis.
One can be pretty sure the ambulance chaser cases he prosecuted prior would have made such trips a little tougher on his wallet.
Trump has directly accused Willis of improperly using the high-profile case against him to funnel money to her “lover.” He argued that by targeting such a prominent public figure in Trump, Willis managed to secure almost a million dollars in contracts for Wade — far more lucrative deals than in a normal prosecution case.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump signaled that the admission of the affair by Willis was a victory for his case, writing, “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.”
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,” he wrote.
“THAT MEANS THAT THIS SCAM IS TOTALLY DISCREDITED & OVER!”
While dismissing the allegations as “salacious,” Willis claims the relationship itself does not constitute grounds for disqualification.
While Willis dismisses the financial implications, the optics are troubling. Fair or not, it raises suspicions that Wade’s exorbitant compensation package was only possible due to the willful targeting of Trump and his allies.
Regardless of when the romantic involvement began, Willis opened herself and the investigation up to credible accusations of abuse of power and misuse of funds.
Intentionally pursuing cases to amplify financial gain for a closely connected special prosecutor betrays the pursuit of justice.
It undermines Willis’ claims that the case is being ethically conducted and strengthens Trump’s claim that the DA’s office is corrupt and its motivations for the prosecution are self-serving lawfare.
