Embattled Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis was absent from Fulton County’s first Democratic debate on Sunday, forcing her challenger to debate from an empty podium.
Willis skipped the event to co-host the second annual Self-Care Fair with Atlanta City Councilmember Andrea Boone in honor of Crime Victims’ Rights Week.
The newspaper also said she chose not to participate in the debate because she and her office remain focused on prosecuting former President Donald Trump for 2020 election interference. fox 5 atlanta.
But that didn’t stop her opponent, Christian Wise Smith, from taking to the stage to criticize Willis’ unprofessionalism in hiring her ex-boyfriend, Nathan Wade, as special counsel to prosecute Trump earlier this year.
Mr. Wade was forced to resign as special counsel following the revelation of his affair with Mr. Willis.
“This issue is important to all of us in Fulton County and to many people across the country,” Smith said, standing alone at the debate podium.
Smith did not discuss the idea that Trump should not be prosecuted for election interference, but explained that Willis “needs to do things differently.”
“When you pay one lawyer nearly $1 million to handle one case, the rest of us are left vulnerable. It hurts everyone in Fulton County,” he said.
The scandalous prosecutor did not appear at the debate, even though early voting began on Monday. fox 5 atlanta Polls show her leading the race by a staggering 70 points.
The primary election for Democratic voters is scheduled for May 21, with the winner facing a Republican candidate in November.
Willis hired the Atlanta-based private attorney as special prosecutor in the case against Trump and 18 of his associates over alleged post-2020 election conduct.
His contract began on November 1, 2021, and the next day Wade filed for divorce from his wife of 26 years, Joycelyn Wade.
Both lawyers made national headlines in January when Trump’s co-defendant, Mike Roman, revealed details of their relationship in a bombshell statement.
Mr. Roman then asked that Mr. Willis be removed from the case due to misconduct charges.
But Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee ruled last month that evidence of fraud by both men was sufficient reason for either Willis or Wade to recuse themselves from Trump’s election interference lawsuit.
“The court finds that the allegations and evidence are legally insufficient to support a finding of an actual conflict of interest,” McAfee wrote in his decision.
Mr. Willis remained in his position, but Mr. Wade was forced to resign as special counsel.
Both Willis and Wade admitted to having a suspected extramarital affair.
Still, they claimed under oath that their relationship would only become official in 2022, after already filing a lawsuit against the former president and 18 others.
Both denied being lovers before Wade was indicted, but witnesses said their romance had been ongoing since before 2022.
Willis said last month that she was “not embarrassed” by the months-long trial over her romantic relationship with Wade.
“I’m not ashamed of anything I’ve done. I think my biggest sin was having an affair with a man, but that’s nothing to be ashamed of. And I’ve never done anything illegal. “I know I haven’t,” she told CNN.
She explained that throughout the more than two months of hearings and court proceedings surrounding their relationship, her office was still preparing the case against Trump.
“While that was going on, we were writing corresponding briefs and proceeding with the litigation in the way we needed to. I don’t feel like we’ve slowed down at all. We’re trying to slow down this train. I think there are efforts to do so, but the train is coming,” Willis said.
