Fani Willis’ situation is not looking good. Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney in Georgia who has been on a personal crusade to prosecute Donald Trump, must now answer to a court regarding allegations that she has an inappropriate relationship with the special counsel she hired to handle the Trump case.
The judge in the Georgia election interference case has reportedly set a hearing on Feb. 15, to look into recent allegations that Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis, and her lead prosecutor, ‘engaged in an improper relationship’ and mishandled money from the public.’ This is according to Nicole Bennett of WSB Radio.
The Washington Post published a detailed report that explains Judge Scott McAfee ordered Willis to respond to the allegations in writing by February 2, and that he called a hearing to discuss the accusations on Feb. 15, and set it up.
McAfee also presided over the RICO trial involving Trump and other co-defendants. Willis is alleged in a relationship with Nathan Wade. Wade was hired by the DA to act as a special prosecutor in the Trump case despite having little experience with corruption cases.
Amy Gardner and Holly Bailey of the Washington Post report that Willis has not addressed the allegations directly. McAfee’s order seems to force her to address the accusations in televised proceedings. This could be at least embarrassing for the district prosecutor and at worst, derail the entire investigation.
Willis addressed the allegations indirectly in a Sunday speech at Atlanta’s Big Bethel AME Church. She implied that the allegations were rooted in racism and defended her hiring of Wade without addressing their reported relationship.
In another indirect manner, the prosecutor accused Wade’s estranged spouse of interfering in the Trump case when she subpoenaed Willis to give testimony in the Wades divorce proceedings. Willis’ lawyers claim in a court document filed on Thursday that Joycelyn has “conspired with other interested parties in criminal election interference to use civil discovery to annoy and embarrass District Attorney Willis.”
Willis also accused Joycelyn Wade “of obstructing an ongoing criminal investigation and interfering in the proceedings.” The motion claims the Wade’s marriage was already beyond repair, so dragging the DA’s office into the proceedings would be a distraction.
The motion stated that “if media reports are an indication, (Joycelyn Wade’s) intention may be to ask questions about the nature of her relationship with Nathan Wade,” The motion stated that because the parties have agreed that the marriage has irretrievably ended and that fault is not in question, the District Attorney Willis cannot provide any information relevant to the grant or denial of the divorce.
McAfee filed for divorce and the court documents were both filed within hours of one another on Thursday. We’ll update this story as more information becomes available.
