A motion filed in state court in Atlanta claims Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis appointed a romantic partner to prosecute former President Donald Trump in the Georgia election interference case.
The salacious court petition claims Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade “have been engaged in an improper, clandestine personal relationship during the pendency of this case, which has resulted in the special prosecutor, and, in turn, the district attorney, profiting significantly from this prosecution at the expense of the taxpayers.”
The legal challenge, filed on Monday, threw a major curveball in the case against Trump, who faces several criminal counts under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law for his efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election result.
The motion — filed on behalf of Michael Roman, a former Trump campaign official and co-defendant in the sprawling RICO case — calls for the charges to be summarily dismissed while also arguing that Willis enriched herself through the ongoing cahoots with Wade.
Roman’s attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, claims to have learned about Wade and Willis’ secret involvement by reviewing Nathan Wade’s divorce file, which wasn’t fully sealed, as no court hearing had taken place to officially block the papers from public view.
The astonishing filing also calls for Willis and her staff to be disqualified from continuing to pursue the “unconstitutional” case against Roman, Trump, and more than a dozen other co-defendants charged in the case.
While the filing lacks tangible evidence of the “improper” romance, the motion does cite “sources close to both the special prosecutor and the district attorney” who confirmed “an ongoing, personal relationship.”
Despite his “lack of relevant experience,” Wade — a private attorney — was hired as an independent special prosecutor by Willis to handle the historic case against Trump — opting to outsource the prosecution to minimize any perceived impropriety as Trump was the first president in history to face serious criminal charges.
The motion asserts that Willis and Wade entered the relationship prior to Wade’s appointment as special prosecutor.
The filing claims the pair traveled together on numerous occasions, basking in Napa Valley, Florida, and the Caribbean, while Wade wined and dined Willis on the major cruise lines — although Roman did not provide proof to back up the accusations.
The motion accused both Willis and Wade of engaging in a “self-serving arrangement” in which they both benefited financially from each other.
“Willis has benefitted substantially and directly, and continues to benefit, from this litigation because Wade is being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to prosecute this case on her behalf,” the filing claims. “In turn, Wade is taking Willis on and paying for vacations across the world with money he is being paid by the Fulton County taxpayers and authorized solely by Willis.”
Roman’s claim immediately raised questions about the indictment’s validity against Trump, while also highlighting concerns over Willis’ professional ethics.
Conservative commentators and social media lit up after the motion became public, with a number of prominent voices on X sharing portions of the document that accused Wade of committing fraud by billing Fulton County $6,000 for 24 hours of work on Jan. 5, 2021.
It also didn’t take long for Trump to call out Willis about the allegations.
“ALL CHARGES AGAINST ME, AND OTHERS, SHOULD BE IMMEDIATELY DROPPED, WITH APOLOGIES, AND MONETARY DAMAGES FOR THE ILLEGAL AND HIGHLY POLITICAL PERSECUTION OF INNOCENT PEOPLE,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Legal experts said Willis could face increased legal scrutiny due to the claims that could ultimately lead to her ouster. However, Trump also faced a high bar to get the indictment against him thrown out on misconduct grounds.
At the same time, several defendants — including Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, Jena Ellis and Scott Hall — have already pleaded guilty in exchange for their testimony against Trump and the other defendants.
According to Roman’s motion, Wade paid for expensive trips for Willis and himself using money his law firm collected from Fulton County to prosecute Trump.
Since taking on the case in January 2022, Wade has received nearly $654,000 in legal fees purportedly signed off by Willis.
Roman’s stunning plea to the court also suggests that payments sent to Wade by Fulton County, combined with the vacation purchases that included Willis, may constitute a case of honest services fraud — a federal crime involving improper kickbacks — which raises the prospect for Willis to face federal racketeering charges.
Willis spokesperson Pallavi Bailey told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the DA would respond to the allegations later “through appropriate court filings.”
