Fani Willis has hit back at those criticizing her over her relationship with a prosecutor in Donald Trump's Georgia racketeering case, Nathan Wade.
Willis, the Fulton County District Attorney, is leading the case against Trump and 18 others who are accused in a 41-count indictment of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all 13 charges against him and has repeatedly said the case is part of a political witch hunt aimed at undermining his position as frontrunner for the GOP 2024 presidential nomination.
In recent weeks, Willis has come under pressure amid allegations about her relationship with Wade, a special prosecutor she hired in the case,
Former Trump staffer Michael Roman, a co-defendant, made the accusations about Willis without evidence, and sought to disqualify her and Wade from the trial. Willis and Wade said they had a romantic relationship in a 176-page court filing Friday but denied this represented a conflict of interest. An evidentiary hearing on the matter is scheduled for February 16. Newsweek contacted Willis via LinkedIn to comment on this story.
In that filing, citing previous court rulings, Willis argued personal relationships are not uncommon. She wrote: "Personal relationships among lawyers—even on opposing sides of litigation—do not constitute impermissible conflicts of interest."
She added: "It is worth noting that there are at least two personal relationships among the collection of defense attorneys representing the Defendants that, under the standard urged by the Roman's motion, would almost certainly require disqualification.
"Amanda Clark Palmer, counsel representing Defendant Ray Smith, and Scott Grubman, representing Defendant Kenneth Chesebro, are publicly known to be in a personal relationship. Since Defendant Chesebro has plead guilty and agreed to testify for the State in the upcoming trial against Defendant Smith and the other remaining defendants, one who was illinformed about the standard for attorney disqualification in Georgia might argue that the personal relationship between Clark Palmer and Grubman could rise to the level of a conflict given potential testimony by Grubman's client inculpating Clark Palmer's client.
"That, of course, would be an incorrect conclusion to draw. Similarly, counsel for Defendant Jenna Ellis are married law partners, working together and representing Defendant Ellis throughout these proceedings."
She added that these relationships do not create legal conflict.
Nevertheless, the fallout from the Wade affair has continued. On Thursday, NBC News reported that Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene had filed a complaint with the Georgia State Ethics Commission saying Willis had failed to file personal financial disclosure statements since opening her investigation into former President Donald Trump. Newsweek has not seen the complaint and has contacted Willis via LinkedIn and representatives for Greene via email for comment.
Meanwhile lawyers for former state GOP chair and Trump co-defendant David Shafer seek to remove her for making a speech in January in which she questioned why Wade, who is Black, was being singled out when her other two special prosecutors are white.
However, Willis has also received some support. On Monday night, a coalition of 17 ethics experts, former prosecutors and defense attorneys filed a court brief arguing that Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee should dismiss motions alleging Willis acted improperly.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Kate Plummer is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. politics and national affairs, and ... Read more
