Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, is running the case against Donald Trump and 18 others accused in a 41-count indictment of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia. Former FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann said text messages between the pair could be key in determining whether she is disqualified from the case. Willis 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.
Roman claimed Willis and Wade had benefited financially from taxpayers’ money. The pair later admitted they had a romantic relationship, but denied a conflict of interest. In response, Roman said that the pair’s relationship started earlier than they had disclosed. Judge Scott McAfee said he would review text messages sent between Wade and his former law partner Terrence Bradley. Trump’s team said the messages show Wade committed perjury over his disclosures about when his relationship with Willis started.
After the hearing, a series of legal analysts said they did not think Willis would be disqualified from the case. Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney under the Barack Obama administration and MSNBC legal analyst, wrote on X that Willis made a terrible decision to date Nathan Wade, and that may bring ethics issues for her. However, Georgia lawyer Doug Weinstein expressed disappointment in Willis and argued 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 and could lead to the case being delayed.
