The Georgia judge managing the state’s 2020 election interference case against former US President Donald Trump and alleged confederates agreed last week to consider a motion to disqualify the lead prosecutor from the case. One of Trump’s co-defendants seeks to remove the Fulton County District Attorney, Fani Willis, following charges that Willis and another prosecutor on the case are in a romantic relationship.
The motion to dismiss the charges and disqualify Willis was brought forward by Michael Roman, a former Trump campaign staff member and White House aide. Roman alleges that the entire legal process is invalid and unconstitutional because Willis, he argues, lacked the legal authority to appoint a special prosecutor. This special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, joined the prosecution against Trump and his 18 co-defendants early in the case.
Roman contends that the professional misconduct between Willis and Wade and their “improper, clandestine personal relationship” creates a conflict of interest. He further alleges this represents an attempt by Willis to personally profit from the case “at the expense of the taxpayer.” He claims that funds that had been allocated to Fulton County to help clear a COVID-19 pandemic-induced backlog of cases were misused by Willis in hiring Wade to aid in the case against Trump and his fellow defendants.
In a remarkable charge, Roman also asserts that Willis and Wade began their romantic affair prior to the prosecution. Therefore, he insists:
[T]he district attorney’s personal relationship to the special prosecutor prior to his appointment as the special prosecutor, his appointment created an impermissible and irreparable conflict of interest under Georgia’s Rules of Professional Conduct, which requires the disqualification of both lawyers.
However, Roman did not cite concrete evidence of any financial impropriety by either Willis or Wade. Instead, he referenced “information obtained outside of court filings” and from “[s]ources close to both the special prosecutor and the district attorney.”
The District Attorney Willis has until February 2 to respond formally to Roman’s allegations, according to Judge Scott McAfee. During a memorial service for Martin Luther King Jr., on January 14, Willis defended her appointment of Wade, who she described as a “superstar, a great friend and a great lawyer.” She also spoke out about the pressures of the case and disclosed that she regularly receives death threats and racial slurs.
McAfee plans to hear the matter in an Atlanta courtroom on February 15.