Fulton DA Fani Willis confirms relationship with Nathan Wade, calls motions to disqualify her 'meritless'

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - A new court filing from the Fulton County District Attorney's Office reveals that District Attorney Fani Willis had a relationship with a special prosecutor hired to work on Georgia's election interference case against former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants, but says that the relationship began after he was hired.

It's been nearly a month since lawyer Ashleigh Merchant, who represents Trump co-defendant Michael Roman, filed a motion seeking to dismiss the indictment and to remove Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade from the case.

In the motion, Merchant accused Willis and Wade of "profiting significantly from the prosecution at the expense of taxpayers," alleging that Willis paid attorney Wade large sums and benefited personally when he, in turn, used his earnings to take her to Napa Valley, Florida and the Caribbean. Wade has been paid more than $650,000 at a rate of $250 an hour since his hiring, according to records Merchant cited.

On Friday, Willis, following an order by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, released a 176-page response to the motion in which Willis and the Fulton County District Attorney's Office called the attempt by Merchant to disqualify her and Wade a "salacious" effort that did not prove anything that would lead to their removal from the case.

As part of the motion, Wade confirmed in an affidavit that he developed a "personal relationship" with Willis in 2022 but said that there was no relationship between the two other than as "professional associates and friends" before he was hired to work on the case in 2021.

Wade also says he and Willis never cohabitated, never shared household expenses, and never shared a joint financial account.

TIMELINE: FULTON COUNTY DA FANI WILLIS, NATHAN WADE CONTROVERSY

Wade also acknowledged buying plane tickets, but said that "expenses for personal travel were roughly divided between us."

Willis does not openly say the status of her and Wade's relationship in the motion, but points to a number of cases in which a personal relationship between lawyers is not considered a conflict of interest.

"It is worth noting that there are at least two personal relationships among the collection of defense attorneys representing the Defendants that, under the standard urged by the Roman’s motion, would almost certainly require disqualification," the motion reads. "Amanda Clark Palmer, counsel representing Defendant Ray Smith, and Scott Grubman, representing Defendant Kenneth Chesebro, are publicly known to be in a personal relationship."

Willis also called the allegations that Wade was unqualified to act as a prosecutor in the election case "factually inaccurate, unsupported, and malicious."

"The motions attempt to cobble together entirely unremarkable circumstances of Special Prosecutor Wade’s appointment with completely irrelevant allegations about his personal family life into a manufactured conflict of interest on the part of the District Attorney," Willis writes. "The effort must fail."

The pair have been issued subpoenas earlier this week to testify at the hearing on Merchant's motion, which is set for Feb. 15.

Experts weigh in on latest Fani WIllis revelation 

Taking closer look at the 176-page court filing by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, legal experts are weighing-in and have varying opinions on the matter.

"Whether or not legally it's enough to get an order to disqualify her, again I say it's too early, but I think she's looking at this, I think she's looking at an investigation by the state senate, I think she's almost certainly going to be investigated for possible removal by the prosecuting attorney's qualifications commission. She in a lot of trouble I think," said Clark Cunningham, a professor of law at Georgia State University.

"In such a high-profile case, it would have just been better to get it out there and not let the public be surprised by a filing, which I still don't see how it affects the case in chief. I don't see how it changes whether or not the defendants committed the actions they're accused to have doing," said Smyrna-based attorney Suri Chadha Jimenez, also a former Fulton County prosecutor.

One of the defendant's attorneys accuse Wade and Willis of "profiting significantly from the prosecution at the expense of taxpayer," saying Wade used some of the money he earned on the case to take Willis on vacations.

"I think it's a very serious issue and I think Judge McAfee will take it very seriously and I think every bit of information that comes out continues to put the District Attorney in a bad light," said Cunningham.

"What's being alleged is that two consenting adults that ended up having a relationship that was more than a professional relationship after he started his job, decided to have dinners together, decided to have trips together," said Jimenez. "I don't see the conflict. Somebody having a personal relationship is not a conflict as to whether or not they can perform their duty as an attorney or as a prosecutor."

Allegations of conflicts of interest in Donald Trump Georgia election case

Willis, an elected Democrat, hired Wade in November 2021 to help with her investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. Since a Fulton County grand jury in August returned an indictment against Trump and 18 others, Wade has led the team of lawyers Willis assembled to prosecute the case.

Trump has seized on the allegations as he campaigns for the Republican nomination for president, trying to use them to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the case against him. Four co-defendants have already pleaded guilty in the case after reaching plea deals with prosecutors. Trump and the others who remain have pleaded not guilty.

COULD DA FANI WILLIS BE REMOVED FROM GEORGIA'S TRUMP ELECTION CASE?

Roman is a former Trump campaign staffer and one-time White House aide. Trump and co-defendant Robert Cheeley, a Georgia lawyer, have joined Roman’s motion.

Roman’s filing alleges that Willis had paid Wade large sums for his work and then improperly benefited when Wade paid for the pair to go on trips, creating a conflict of interest. It also questioned Wade’s qualifications for the job.

No proof of the alleged relationship was included in the motion. 

Fani Willis defends hiring of Nathan Wade

Nearly a week after the motion was filed, Willis spoke out during a church service at the historic Bethel AME Church, defending Wade’s qualifications, but not addressing the allegations that they had a relationship.

In the speech, Willis described Wade without mentioning him by name as a "superstar, a great friend and a great lawyer."

Willis also suggested during that address that the questioning of Wade’s hiring was rooted in racism.

"They only attacked one," Willis told the congregation. "First thing they say, ‘Oh, she’s gonna play the race card now.’

"But no God, isn’t it them that’s playing the race card when they only question one," she asked.

In a court filing seeking to avoid sitting for a deposition in Wade’s divorce case, Willis accused Wade’s wife of trying to obstruct the election case. In a filing in response, Wade’s wife included credit card statements that showed Wade had bought plane tickets for Willis to travel with him to San Francisco and Miami.

Trump lawyer Steve Sadow's response

On Friday, Trump's lead defense counsel in the Georgia case, Steve Sadow, issued a statement saying Willis was asking the court to "turn a blind eye" to her alleged misconduct.

See the full statement below:

"The Fulton County DA’s response asks the Court to turn a blind eye to her alleged personal and financial misconduct. Her sole objective is to try and stop the Court from holding the evidentiary hearing that is set for February 15. While the DA admits to an intimate relationship with her employee Special Asst. DA Wade, she fails to provide full transparency and necessary financial details. Indeed, she says absolutely nothing about the so-called "coincidence" of Wade filing for divorce the day after the DA hired him! Most significantly, and disingenuously, the DA attempts to explain and downplay her "Church Speech," by preposterously claiming that her racially charged extrajudicial comments were somehow not about the case or the defendants, and that her intentional injection of racial animus in violation of her ethical responsibilities as a prosecutor should simply be ignored. Apparently, the DA believes she can make public out-of-court statements about race, this case, and the defendants whenever she wants, and the Court is powerless to punish her by disqualification. Such hubris for all to see. Nothing has changed. Our requested remedy remains clear: dismiss the case and disqualify the DA, together with her team and office, from any related matters."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.