Must respond to alleged ethics violations that include misuse of funds and an affair with a lead prosecutor she hired.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is prosecuting the Georgia election case against former President Donald Trump and 14 co-defendants, was given a Feb. 2 deadline to respond to a motion alleging improper use of funds and that she had an affair with a prosecutor she hired on the high-profile case.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, presiding over the case, has ordered a hearing for Feb. 15.
The allegations were made by defendant Michael Roman, a strategist who participated in the 2020 Trump campaign. Mr. Roman cited only anonymous sources, without submitting evidence, but later told reporters he had witnesses ready to testify against Ms. Willis.
In a 100-plus page filing, Mr. Roman argued that the behavior alleged was grounds for dismissal of the charges against President Trump and dismissal of the district attorney and her team.
Nathan Wade, an attorney with a private law firm, was hired by Ms. Willis and has argued at nearly every hearing in the case since its inception. After Mr. Roman’s motion last week, Mr. Wade became the subject of a congressional investigation and news headlines, with multiple media outlets seeking the sealed records of his ongoing divorce.
Mr. Roman alleged that Mr. Wade had been paid about $650,000 with public funds intended for use to clear COVID-era backlogs and had received other funds that were used to pay for “lavish” vacations with Ms. Willis.
“Admittedly, this is a bold allegation considering it is directed to one of the most powerful people in the State of Georgia, the Fulton County District Attorney,” the filing reads. “Nevertheless, the district attorney’s fame and power do not change the fact that she decided to appoint as the special prosecutor a person with whom she had a personal relationship and who is now leading the day-to-day prosecution of this case.”
Mr. Roman argued that public records don’t show that Ms. Willis obtained county approval before appointing Mr. Wade as special prosecutor, and that the records in his ongoing divorce case have been sealed.
This “indefensible conduct” created an “irreparable defect” in the indictment, he said.
