Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has set a two-day hearing to address a motion seeking to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting the racketeering case involving former President Donald Trump and 14 others accused of a criminal conspiracy related to their actions challenging the 2020 election results.
The case took a personal turn last month when counsel for one defendant alleged that Ms. Willis was engaged in an extramarital affair with a married special prosecutor she had appointed to lead the case. Nathan Wade, an attorney who also practices privately, recently finalized his divorce amid intense public scrutiny.
Attorney Ashleigh Merchant, representing defendant Michael Roman, obtained this information primarily from Terrence Bradley, an associate of Mr. Wade’s, who is expected to play a significant role in the upcoming evidentiary hearing.
Since Ms. Merchant filed the allegations on Jan. 8 seeking the disqualification of the district attorney, her team, and the indictment, roughly half of the defendants, including President Trump, attorney Robert Cheeley, former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer, Republican elector Cathy Latham, former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark, former Black Voices for Trump director Harrison Floyd, and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, have joined the motion.
Additional allegations have been made by the defendants, but the judge has indicated that the focus of the hearing will be on the nature of the relationship between Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade, particularly regarding “the existence and extent of any financial benefit, if there even was one.”
The district attorney’s office has refuted the allegations, and Mr. Wade has submitted an affidavit stating that his relationship with Ms. Willis began in 2022, after he was already involved in the case, and that they shared expenses equally, minimizing any potential financial benefit to Ms. Willis from his appointment.
