The fourth co-defendant in the Georgia lawsuit against former President Donald Trump has asked the court to disbar embattled District Attorney Fani Willis.
Co-defendant David Shafer, who served as Georgia Republican Party chairman in 2020 and Georgia’s Republican presidential elector in the 2020 election, told the court Monday that Willis engaged in a “pattern of prosecutorial and forensic misconduct.” filed a complaint for doing so. Not only should she be disqualified, but her office and all of her prosecutorial staff should be disqualified.
Schaefer’s allegations stem from an “inappropriate” relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor hired by Willis to prosecute the massive extortion case against Trump, and has asked a court to disbar her from the case. This is based on co-defendant Michael Roman’s claim that
Mr. Willis responded to the allegations in a court filing Friday, acknowledging that he has a “personal” relationship with Mr. Wade but denying any conflict of interest. She also argued that under Georgia law, for a district attorney to be forcibly removed from a case, the conflict of interest must be detrimental to the defendant’s case.
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Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis and Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade. Wade reached a temporary divorce settlement with his estranged wife. (Getty Images)
Schaefer on Monday alleged that Willis has a “pattern of making prejudicial public statements” about the incident through various media interviews and public speaking engagements. He claimed that he intended to “reject and infect jurors.” Schaefer and his lawyers argue that this is the main reason justifying her firing.
Monday’s court filing refers to when Willis first mentioned the alleged affair in a January statement at Atlanta’s Bethel AME Church.
“They only attacked one person,” she said. “First they say, ‘Oh, she’s going to play her race card now.’
“But God is different, aren’t they the ones who are cutting the race card with just one question?” Willis asked.
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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks during a service at Big Bethel AME Church where she was an invited guest speaker on Sunday, January 14, 2024 in Atlanta. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, via AP)
“We can’t expect black women to be perfect and save the world,” Willis said, adding, “We need to be allowed to stumble. We need grace.”
“The clear intent of her comments was to make an unsubstantiated assertion that anyone who dared to question her or Mr. Wade’s conduct must have done so for racist purposes,” Schaefer wrote in Monday’s court filing. to inject and infect Fulton County jurors.”
“As an attorney, and most importantly, as a prosecutor, I find her comments, which directly affected the pending litigation, indefensible and reprehensible. Forensic misconduct warrants excluding her and her office from prosecution in this case,” the filing states.
In a legal filing last month, Roman said in November 2021, shortly after he was appointed special prosecutor, Wade billed Fulton County for 24-hour work days and Willis received taxpayers’ money. He claimed to have benefited financially from his girlfriend’s inflated salary. We go on a luxurious vacation together with his money.
Wade, who has no experience with RICO or felony prosecution, has billed taxpayers $654,000 since January 2022, according to court documents.
Schaefer also said that Willis hired Wade “to investigate and prosecute the defendants, and paid him more than $500,000 from the Fulton County Treasury, while also paying him more than $500,000 from the district attorney’s office. “I authorized him to pay for other individuals’ vacation expenses.” The expenses constitute a disqualifying conflict of interest and may violate the ethics rules applicable to attorneys and Fulton County employees, as well as criminal law. ”
The motion also states that Willis’ “inappropriate and inaccurate portrayal” of Schaefer and other potential 2020 Republican presidential nominees in national media as “fake electors” is “highly objectionable” to Schaefer. “This has always been a significant” issue, he said. As a result of her indictment, Schaefer’s nomination as a presidential elector by the Georgia Republican Party qualifies her as a “legal” presidential elector under Georgia law.
Schaefer asked the court to keep the Feb. 15 evidentiary hearing set by Judge Scott McAfee. At the hearing, both parties will present evidence to force the court to remove Mr. Willis and his firm from the case.
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Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis, who sued former President Donald Trump for election interference, is facing harsh criticism from all sides. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)
“The evidentiary hearing regarding the district attorney’s forensic misconduct and the financial aspects of the personal relationship between District Attorney Willis and Wade that created this disqualifying conflict of interest,” Craig A. Gillen, Schaefer’s attorney, said Monday. I understand that it is unsightly, and I appreciate it.” “This is an unpleasant experience for everyone involved,” he said. “We do not pursue these claims lightly.”
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“But as I said,” Gillen said, “District Attorney Willis and Mr. Wade are not the victims here. These are all self-inflicted mistakes that are beyond the defense’s control. “This is a completely avoidable mistake, but one so significant that the defense believes we have no choice but to bring them to court.”
Gillen said in his filing that Willis’ discomfort “pales in comparison to what Mr. Schaefer, who is presumptively and actually innocent, has endured.”
“His life was forever changed by the unwarranted and unfounded charges brought by District Attorney Willis, which she had no legal authority or jurisdiction to pursue,” the filing states.
The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
