Georgia District Attorney and Prosecutor with Trump Ties Linked in Filing with Romantic Connection

An alleged romantic partner was employed by Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis to prosecute former President Donald Trump, court papers filed in the case claim.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said the court filing alleges special prosecutor Nathan Wade used Fulton County funds his law firm received to pay for vacations he took with Willis.

Further, the newspaper noted county records reveal Wade has been paid about $654,000   in legal fees since January 2022. Willis’ office authorizes his payments.

The court papers were filed by attorneys for defendant Michael Roman, a former campaign official for Trump. The documents contain a motion, which claims criminal charges in the case are unconstitutional, and the papers seek to have the charges against Roman dismissed.

In addition to a racketeering charge, Roman is accused of conspiring to organize “alternate electors” to cast votes for Trump after President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, NBC News noted.

The papers also call for Willis, Wade, and the DA’s office to be disqualified from prosecuting the case. The court papers offer no proof of romantic links between Willi and Wade. But the document claims “sources close to both the special prosecutor and the district attorney have confirmed they had an ongoing, personal relationship.”

A Willis spokeswoman said the DA’s office will address Roman’s allegations “through appropriate court filings.” Wade did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ethics expert Stephen Gillers, a professor emeritus at New York University Law School, said the allegations spark serious questions, according to the Journal-Constitution.

If the allegations are true, Gillers said, “Willis was conflicted in the investigation and prosecution of this case” and wasn’t able to bring the sort of “independent professional judgment” her position requires.

“That does not mean that her decisions were in fact improperly motivated. It does mean that the public and the state, as her client, could not have the confidence in the independent judgment that her position required her to exercise.”

 Ashleigh Merchant, Roman’s attorney, said she reviewed the case file in Wade’s ongoing divorce proceedings and made copies of certain documents. That case file was later improperly sealed because no court hearing was held as required by law, the motion said.

Until the seal is lifted, Merchant said she is not sharing details she obtained from the divorce file. She is asking a judge to unseal the case file.

Court papers filed in the Roman case allege that Willis and Wade have been involved in a romantic relationship that started before Wade was appointed special prosecutor. The filing says they traveled  to Napa Valley and Florida, and they went on Caribbean cruises together using tickets Wade purchased from Norwegian and Royal Caribbean cruise lines.

However, the filing did not include documentation of those purchases.

“At a hearing, the concrete evidence would be presented,” Merchant said when reached for comment, NBC News said. “So, when we get a hearing, there would be concrete evidence and obviously that could be in the form of two of the prosecution team members,” she said in reference to Willis and Wade potentially testifying.

Just one day before Wade filed for divorce, he had entered into his special prosecutor contract on Nov. 1, 2021, the newspaper reported. Willis is divorced.