District Attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, Fani Willis poses for photos in the Fulton County Court House in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday, August 8, 2023.
Megan Varner for The Washington Post/Getty Images
A Trump co-defendant asked that Fulton County DA Fani Willis be disqualified and his indictment thrown out.A filing on behalf of Michael Roman alleged Willis was dating a special prosecutor she appointed.One criminal defense attorney said the accusations could be “catastrophic” for Fulton County’s case.
A co-defendant in the Fulton County, Georgia, racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and allies has requested District Attorney Fani Willis be disqualified from the case and his indictment thrown out, alleging in a court filing she engaged in an “improper” romantic relationship with a special prosecutor, according to court records viewed by Business Insider.
The motion was filed Tuesday on behalf of former Trump campaign staffer Michael Roman, who was charged with a RICO violation and other felonies in the case, which alleges the defendants plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The filing argues the prosecution was “invalid and unconstitutional” because the district attorney improperly appointed the special prosecutor.
The filing did not cite any specific evidence for the claims made. It relies on “sources close to both the special prosecutor and the district attorney.”
The filing alleges Willis was secretly dating attorney Nathan Wade before and after she hired him as a special prosecutor in the election interference case. The filing alleges Willis and Wade have traveled together to places like Napa Valley and Florida and that Wade paid for them to take cruises.
It also claims the pair profited “significantly” from the case “at the expense of the taxpayers,” noting Fulton County has paid Wade nearly $654,000 since 2022, an amount The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, citing county records.
The filing says Wade’s appointment as a special prosecutor “created an impermissible and irreparable conflict of interest under Georgia’s Rules of Professional Conduct, which requires the disqualification of both lawyers and their respective offices and firms.”
The Fulton County DA’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI, but a spokesperson for Willis, Pallavi Bailey, told the AJC they will respond to the allegations “through appropriate court filings.”
Ashleigh Merchant, Roman’s lawyer, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI outside normal business hours.
Wade did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside normal business hours to two email addresses associated with him.
Stephen Gillers, a professor at New York University Law School, told AJC that if the accusations are true, “Willis was conflicted in the investigation and prosecution of this case.”
Ken White, a criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles, said on social media the accusations could have major implications for the entire case.
“This Fani Willis thing is potentially catastrophic for the Fulton County case and will be a gigantic propaganda victory for Trump,” he wrote on Threads.
