ATLANTA (CN) — The district attorney overseeing the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump responded to a motion Friday seeking to disqualify her from the case over what one defendant calls an "improper" relationship with her special prosecutor.
In the filing, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, denied the claims as "meritless" and said there is no financial or personal conflict of interest that constitutes disqualification from the case.
"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," Willis wrote.
One of Trump's co-defendants in the case, Mike Roman, filed a motion last month asserting several claims against Willis and Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to aid in the election interference case. Roman claims Wade is not qualified for the position and that Willis hired him because the two had been "romantically involved."
However Willis' response included a Facebook post from Roman's attorney Ashleigh Merchant, supporting Wade during a 2016 judicial campaign with a photo of her in a "Wade" T-shirt with the caption, "Vote Nathan J. Wade!"
"The truth is that Wade has long distinguished himself as an exceptionally talented litigator with significant trial experience. He is a diligent and relentless advocate known for his candor with the court, and a leader more than capable of managing the complexity of this case," Willis wrote.
"Counsel for defendant Roman, of course, is well familiar with the experience and qualifications of special prosecutor Wade, whatever contrary representations are made in Roman’s motion. During a judicial campaign in 2016, defendant Roman’s counsel Ashleigh Merchant was an enthusiastic supporter of Wade’s candidacy, and described him in glowing terms," Willis said.
Roman pointed to Wade's pending divorce in Cobb County court, filed just a day after he entered his contract with Willis, as the basis for claims of a potential romantic relationship between him and Willis. He also pointed to receipts for various airline tickets Wade purchased for himself and Willis.
An affidavit from Wade was included in Willis' filing, in which he said he and Willis have been "professional associates and friends since 2019," but did not develop a "personal relationship" until 2022, after he was appointed as special prosecutor.
"Funds paid to me in compensation for my role as special prosecutor have been shared with or provided to district attorney Willis," Wade added.
He said expenses for personal travel were "roughly divided equally" between the two. "At times I have made and purchased travel for District Attorney Willis and myself from my personal funds. At other times District Attorney Willis has made and purchased travel for she and I from her personal funds," Wade said.
Willis argued that personal relationships among lawyers, even on opposing sides of litigation, "do not constitute impermissible conflicts of interest," noting that counsel for defendant Jenna Ellis are married law partners who have been working together throughout the proceedings.
According to Willis, Amanda Clark Palmer, the attorney for defendant Ray Smtih, and Scott Grubman, who represents defendant Kenneth Chesebro, are "publicly known to be in a personal relationship."
In response to the accusation she misused county funds in hiring and compensating Wade as a special prosecutor, Willis said that Wade has been properly paid for his time spent working on the case, just as other prosecutors working on the case have.
Roman argues Wade has been paid $653,881 since December 2023 by the Fulton County District Attorney's office for his work on the "anti-corruption" unit, a much higher salary than Willis'.
"References to aggregate invoices paid over a period of years may garner the headline defendants are so obviously searching for, but they ignore completely the context of Wade’s role during that time leading the district attorney’s investigation into defendants’ complex criminal racketeering scheme designed to interfere with the 2020 election in Georgia," Willis wrote, adding all payments to Wade are independently reviewed by the county's chief financial officer.
In his affidavit, Wade said that his $250 per hour compensation offered by Willis' office is "significantly less" than the rate for experienced lawyers in the area and less than half of what he made from work he did with another government agency.
"Comparisons to the invoiced work of other special prosecutors tasked with dramatically less time-consuming work and much more circumscribed roles are staggeringly off-mark. Special prosecutor Wade made much more money than the other special prosecutors only because Wade did much more work," Willis said.
Trump's attorneys joined Roman's motion last week, inflating the misconduct accusations by arguing that Willis' recent remarks at a historic Black church in Atlanta had injected “racial animus” into the election interference case. Willis fired back, stating Trump presents no direct evidence that she is prosecuting him based on "his race, gender or any other improper ground."
Meanwhile, defendant Jeffrey Clark's attorney Harry MacDougald argued to Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee this past week that Willis was engaging in "selective" and politically motivated prosecution.
But Willis said in her filing that her income is set by state law and not dependent on the outcome of any case she prosecutes. "Defendants' attempt to conflate media attention with personal financial gain is complete conjecture," she said, noting she has faced threats, racial slurs and other personal attacks for prosecuting the case.
"One may question whether the intent is to disqualify the prosecutor who has taken on all of the abuse to pursued justice in this case at great personal cost, only to be substituted with someone less committed to do so," Willis wrote.
McAfee scheduled a hearing on the matter for Feb. 15, though Willis said it should be vacated. Roman's defense counsel has attempted to subpoena Wade's former divorce attorney as well as his personal bank records, which Willis argued are "inappropriate efforts" into personal matters that lack any evidentiary value to the case.
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