Judge to decide if alleged misconduct of district attorney Fani Willis rises to level of disqualification from Trump case. Hearing starts on Feb. 15.
The high-profile racketeering case that names former President Donald Trump and 14 others as defendants has taken an increasingly personal turn toward the woman who brought the charges, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Ms. Willis may testify on Feb. 15 about her relationship with a special prosecutor she appointed to take the lead on the case alleging 2020 election interference. The judge will hear from other witnesses first, and Ms. Willis may not need to testify if he determines he can make a ruling without it. The hearing has been scheduled to continue on Feb. 16.
Several allegations have been made about Ms. Willis over the past month, from misuse of public funds to prejudicial behavior at odds with ethics guidelines.
But the Feb. 15 hearing will focus on only one point: the extent and timeline of her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has said the issue could be grounds to disqualify Ms. Willis from the case.
Timeline Disputed
Mr. Wade, an attorney with his own Atlanta-area law firm, was contracted on the Georgia election case since it was in the investigation stage.
The allegations of an inappropriate relationship first emerged on Jan. 8, when attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who is representing defendant Michael Roman, charged that the married Mr. Wade had been romantically involved with Ms. Willis before she hired him onto the case.
Allegations that Mr. Wade doesn’t have the experience required to prosecute a racketeering case or that he wasn’t appointed via the proper procedures were dismissed by the judge.
Ms. Merchant alleged that since Mr. Wade was hired, he has been paid about $650,000 by the state, retained his private practice, and spent thousands on “lavish” vacations with Ms. Willis, including a cruise.
In an affidavit submitted to the court in the racketeering case, Mr. Wade has disputed Ms. Merchant’s timeline, saying that he met Ms. Willis in a professional capacity at a conference in 2019, but it wasn’t until 2022, after he was hired, that he began a “personal relationship” with her. He also said that Ms. Willis split expenses equally with him, and there were other trips during which she paid for travel and lodging for him.
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