Georgia's Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Sunday defended the qualifications of special prosecutor Nathan Wade in the state's case against former President Trump, the first time since misconduct allegations involving Wade were considered last week. spoke in public.
Speaking to members of Big Bethel AME Church on Sunday ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Mr. Willis did not directly address the allegations of an inappropriate relationship with Mr. Wade, but did not directly address the allegations of an inappropriate relationship with Mr. Wade. The company vehemently denied allegations that it acted inappropriately in hiring Mr. Wade to intervene. The case involved Trump and more than a dozen co-defendants.
Last week, allegations surfaced that one of Mr. Trump's co-defendants, Mike Roman, a political operative who served as Trump's Election Day Operations Director for his 2020 re-election campaign, accused Mr. Willis and Mr. Wade of “inappropriate behavior.” ” He accused her of having a romantic relationship.
Roman's lawyer, Ashley Merchant, cited “close associates” of Willis and Wade, claiming the two had an “ongoing personal and romantic relationship” and had even gone on vacation together. . In the complaint, Merchant alleges that the relationship began before the election interference began, and that the indictment is “fatally flawed” and seeks to dismiss the charges.
“It's a little confusing. I appointed three special advisers, which is my right, and I paid them all the same hourly rate. They're only attacking one person,” Willis said Sunday. Ta. “I say I hired a white woman, a good personal friend, and a great lawyer, and a superstar. I hired a white man, a great friend, and a great lawyer. And I hired a black man, another superstar, a great friend, and a great lawyer.”
She did not mention Mr. Wade by name directly, but defended the lawyer's “impeccable credentials.”
“The black man I chose has been a judge for over 10 years.[s] Private practice with 20 or more people [years]” Willis said. “He has represented corporations in civil litigation and served as a prosecutor, criminal defense attorney, and special assistant to the attorney general.”
Mr. Willis spoke as if he were talking to God and said, “God, why would you accept the same black man I hired when a Republican in another country hired him and paid him twice as much?'' Is that so?” he asked.
In a filing last week, Merchant pointed to payments to Wade of nearly $654,000 in legal fees in 2022 and 2023 for investigative work, according to county records. Records state the district attorney's office authorized these funds.
Willis also suggested that the allegations against her, a Black woman, and Wade, a Black man, may be racially motivated.
“God, aren't they the ones who are running with just one question?” she said. “They always think they need someone from some jurisdiction in another state to teach them how to do the job I’ve been doing, so that’s why I’m putting my race out there.” [done] Almost 30 years. ”
“God, do you mean some people will never think of a black man as entitled, no matter how accomplished he is?” she later said.
In a speech that lasted about 35 minutes, Willis described the damage the allegations had done to her and said the past few days had been a “low point” that prompted her to write a letter to God. During her speech, she repeatedly described herself as “flawed” and “imperfect.”
The district attorney went on to criticize her critics, particularly Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), and called for an “immediate investigation.” Willis and Wade last week..
“Dear God, I don't want to be like the people who attacked me,” Willis said. “I never want to be the Marjorie Taylor Greene who filled my soul with hate even though she never met me. Why won't a woman who has the honor of being the leader of my state contact me? Is that so?”
“She can say to me, 'I don't agree with what you're doing, but I don't agree with people who threaten your life and the life of your family,'” Willis continued. “How did such a woman come to think that it is normal and normalized that other women deserve such brutality? I don't want her to experience the derogatory name calling, the repeated threats.”
Late last week, filings revealed Willis was also subpoenaed in Wade's ongoing divorce case.subpoena first reported According to the Wall Street Journal.
According to the Associated Press, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said in a hearing last Friday that he is awaiting a response from the district attorney's office and plans to set a hearing on Roman's motion for February. Stated.
President Trump used Roman's claims as further argument for dismissing the criminal charges in Georgia. He claimed last week that the allegations made his case against Mr Willis “absolutely uncompromising”.
Trump faces 13 charges in Georgia for allegedly trying to overturn the election results, while another federal criminal case in Washington, D.C., for trying to stay in power after losing the 2020 election. facing.
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