Fani Willis, a former FBI general counsel, has warned that text messages between her and Nathan Wade could be crucial in determining whether she is disqualified from Donald Trump’s election interference case. Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, gave evidence in a two-day hearing following accusations by former Trump staffer and co-defendant Michael Roman that she was having an affair with Wade, a special prosecutor she hired in the high-profile case. Willis is running 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. Trump’s team said that the messages show Wade committed perjury over his disclosures about when his relationship with Willis started.
After the hearing, Judge Scott McAfee said he would review text messages sent between Wade and his former law partner, Terrence Bradley. Trump’s team said that the messages show Wade committed perjury over his disclosures about when his relationship with Willis started. Legal analysts, including Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney under the Barack Obama administration and MSNBC legal analyst, disagreed with Willis’s decision to date Wade, stating that her testimony dispelled any kickback scheme that would disqualify her.
Georgia lawyer Doug Weinstein expressed disappointment in Willis, stating that putting the Trump trial at risk in this fashion demonstrates poor judgment. If Willis is removed from the case, another district attorney or state Attorney General Christopher Carr, a Republican, could take over the prosecution, which could lead to the case being delayed.
