How could Willis allegations affect the Georgia election interference case?
One of former President Donald Trump’s co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case is alleging that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis engaged in an improper relationship with the special prosecutor she hired for the probe.
The lawyer for defendant Michael Roman is asking the court to disqualify Willis from the case and dismiss the seven felony counts he is charged with. Roman served as former President Trump’s election day coordinator in 2020.
The motion, filed Monday, does not in itself prove the existence of a romantic relationship between Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade. But Roman’s lawyer, Ashleigh Merchant, alleges that Willis and Wade were romantically involved when Willis brought him on as special prosecutor, that he was not qualified for the position, and that Willis did not follow the proper procedures for hiring and swearing him in.
The filing also accuses Wade of paying for vacations with Willis with compensation he received from the county. Fulton County has paid Wade nearly $654,000 since 2022, according to the filing.
A spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office did not return a request for comment and Willis has not responded to the allegations.
“The instant Motion is not filed lightly. Nor is it being filed without considerable forethought, research or investigation,” Merchant wrote. “The issues raised herein strike at the heart of fairness in our justice system and, if left unaddressed and unchecked, threaten to taint the entire prosecution, invite error, and completely undermine public confidence in the eventual outcome of this proceeding.”
Merchant cites unidentified sources close to Willis and Wade, but told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she reviewed Wade’s divorce filing. The divorce records have since been sealed, according to the filing. Merchant did not respond to a request for more information about the provenance of the allegations.
‘The optics … are terrible’
It is not obvious how these claims could affect the case.
Former DeKalb County prosecutor J. Tom Morgan, a professor at Western Carolina University, says that even if the allegations are true, he does not believe Willis broke the law or this means the end of Fulton County’s case.
“I don’t see a judge throwing out the indictment or recusing Ms. Willis’s office,” Morgan said. “The optics, however, are terrible.”
Willis has been chastised for poor judgment in the past. In 2022, Judge Robert McBurney disqualified Willis and her office from prosecuting now-Lieutenant Gov. Burt Jones in the election interference case after she hosted a fundraiser for his political opponent.
McBurney called Willis’s decision to hold the event a “what are you thinking” moment.
Roman’s lawyer says Willis should also be disqualified from prosecuting her client, saying prosecutors’ actions, “ultimately created a fatal and irreparable defect in the indictment against Mr. Roman and a conflict of interest that has tainted the entire prosecution.”
Merchant also went further, accusing Willis of illegally attempting to defraud the public of honest services, a predicate act under the federal racketeering statute. Roman and the other defendants have been charged under the state RICO law.
Allegations are unsubstantiated so far
Clark Cunningham, a Georgia State University law professor who specializes in legal ethics, says the claims will be scrutinized by the judge overseeing the case, but Willis could also face an investigation by the state disciplinary board or a new prosecutor oversight commission being set up by the legislature.
But, Cunningham says, “the motion has to be substantiated and that motion is not in any way substantiated at this point.”
And as it relates to Roman’s case, Cunningham says a Georgia Supreme Court decision, McLoughlin v. Payne, provides useful precedent. In that case the court found that a district attorney should have been disqualified for acquiring “a personal interest or stake in the defendant’s conviction.”
“It may seem to people kind of far-fetched that Mr. Roman is being prosecuted so that [Willis] can take a vacation in the Caribbean,” Cunningham said.
High profile, high stakes case
Roman’s motion also alleges that Wade was not properly installed as a special prosecutor because the county did not authorize the hire and his oath was not filed, supposedly rendering the indictments moot.
Judge Scott McAfee has dismissed previous complaints about Wade’s oath. And Pete Skandalakis, the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia executive director, says prosecutors have leeway to hire.
“Counties don’t tell DAs who to hire and who not to hire,” Skandalakis said. “I’m not aware of any county in Georgia that has that type of authority over a DA. So if the money is in her budget for personnel expenses, she is free to hire who she wants.”
Still, the stakes could not be higher, with a former president facing election interference charges.
“I think the practical implication is that the public, including those that voted her into office, will question her judgment in the handling of this case,” Morgan said.
Trump and some Republicans have already elevated the allegations to argue that the prosecution – and the prosecutor – are motivated by politics, not the law.
McAfee has not set a date to consider the motion.
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