ATLANTA (AP) — Accusations that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had an inappropriate relationship with a special prosecutor she hired to seek…
Accusations that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had an inappropriate relationship with a special prosecutor she hired to seek convictions of Donald Trump and others for interfering in Georgia’s 2020 election have led to renewed calls to remove Willis from the case.
Willis has defended her hiring of Nathan Wade, who has little prosecutorial experience, and has not directly denied a romantic relationship. The allegations were first made public in a motion filed earlier this month by defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who represents former Trump campaign staffer and White House aide Michael Roman.
Merchant alleges that Willis’ office paid Wade large sums and that Willis improperly benefited when Wade then paid for the two of them to go on vacations. Merchant has not offered any proof of the alleged relationship. But a filing last week by Wade’s wife in their divorce case includes credit card records that show that Wade bought plane tickets for Willis to travel with him to Miami and San Francisco.
Willis, an elected Democrat, has shown no signs of stepping down, but there are ways she could be removed. Here’s a look at some options:
WHAT CAN THE JUDGE DO?
Merchant’s motion asks Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to remove Willis and Wade and their offices from any further prosecution of the case. McAfee has the power to do that.
In fact, another judge, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, took that step in July 2022 when he was presiding over the special grand jury investigation that preceded the indictment in the election case.
Then-Sen. Burt Jones, one of 16 Georgia Republicans who signed a certificate falsely stating that Trump had won the election and declaring themselves the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors, had been told he was a target in the election case. He argued that Willis had a conflict of interest because she had hosted a fundraiser for his Democratic opponent in the lieutenant governor’s race.
McBurney ruled in Jones’ favor, writing that the situation had gone beyond bad optics and had created “a plain — and actual and untenable — conflict.” He prohibited Willis and her office from prosecuting Jones in the case.
If McAfee decides to take similar action and to remove Willis and her office from the election case, it would be up to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia to find another prosecutor to take the case.
