Office romance rumors 'block the way' of Trump's prosecution

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (left) and District Attorney Nathan Wade in Atlanta, Georgia in August 2023 (Photo: Reuters).

After nearly three years of pursuing the election overturning case against Donald Trump and his allies, Attorney General Willis may have to give up everything after rumors that she had feelings for Nathan Wade, whom Willis hired as a prosecutor to assist in the case since 2021.

The news came to light in early January when Michael Roman, a co-defendant with Mr. Trump in the Fulton County case, filed a motion to disqualify Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade because of their intimate relationship.

According to the lawsuit, Mr. Wade used some of the $650,000 he was paid while working for Ms. Willis to “pay” for her vacation. Bank records show Mr. Wade paid for tickets for himself and Ms. Willis to California in 2023 and Miami in 2022.

Neither confirmed nor denied the relationship. Ms. Willis said she would respond to the request on February 2, and insisted that all special prosecutors she hired were paid equally.

The possibility of Ms. Willis being removed from office risks causing significant delays to the prosecution of Mr. Trump because it is unclear how long it would take to appoint a replacement.

“It could completely derail this whole process,” Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University, told the Guardian .

Mr. Nathan Wade during a hearing at Fulton County Court in Atlanta, Georgia in October 2023 (Photo: Getty).

Trusted person

Before being hired to work on Mr. Trump’s prosecution, Mr. Wade was a prominent city judge and lawyer with little prosecutorial experience. After meeting in 2019, Mr. Wade became a confidant and adviser to Ms. Willis, according to the Guardian .

Ms. Willis told the New York Times in 2022 that she only invited Mr. Wade to take part in the case after being turned down by more experienced lawyers.

Ms. Willis told the New York Times that Mr. Wade was hesitant because she did not have much prosecutorial experience. Ultimately, she persuaded him to join the team.

“I needed someone I could trust,” Ms. Willis told the New York Times .

Regardless of what happens legally, Mr. Trump will use the alleged affair to attack Ms. Willis’s credibility. Although his lawyer has not yet joined Mr. Roman’s petition, Mr. Trump has spoken out.

"When will the great state of Georgia dismiss this phony case against me and others? Election interference! This case is a fraud, just like Attorney General Fani Willis and her 'mistress,'" Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform on January 20.

Mr. Trump at a Republican fundraising event in Columbia, South Carolina in August 2023 (Photo: Reuters).

The defendant's stalling tactic

In fact, Ms. Willis had been cleared once before after hosting a political fundraising event for an opponent of Mr. Burt Jones, who was a fake elector for Mr. Trump in 2020 and was under investigation at the time. The judge cleared Ms. Willis of the indictment against Mr. Jones.

Like other experts, Mr. Stephen Gillers, a legal ethics expert at New York University, said that in Mr. Roman's request, there was no list of acts that could cause the court to dismiss the entire indictment to overturn the election against Mr. Trump.

"The indictment will not be dismissed for this conduct," Mr. Gillers said.

He also agreed that Ms. Willis's conduct would likely not disqualify her, and that Mr. Wade's high hourly pay was not a reason to disqualify him.

"Every lawyer who charges by the hour charges that rate. Hourly billing is pretty common across the country," he said.

However, Mr. Gillers said that Mr. Wade should proactively leave the prosecution team to avoid causing distraction.

Clark Cunningham, a law professor and ethics expert, said that regardless of what the judge decides, some parties will likely appeal to "buy time."

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/tin-don-tinh-cong-so-ngang-duong-vu-truy-to-ong-trump-20240128185549740.htm