The judge presiding over the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump has ordered a Feb. 15 court hearing into allegations of a secret romance between Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
The order from Georgia Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee came the same day that Willis filed a motion accusing Wade’s estranged wife of manipulating their ongoing divorce in an attempt to muddy the prosecution against Trump.
The decree from McAfee requires Willis to submit a written response to the court by Feb. 2, according to a copy of the order that was first obtained by The Washington Post.
The scandal intensified more than a week after the allegations against Willis surfaced in a Jan. 8 motion filed by former Republican campaign aide Michael Roman, who is one of more than a dozen co-defendants facing charges in the unprecedented RICO case against Trump in Georgia.
Days after the salacious allegations came to light, the case took a major unexpected turn when Willis received a subpoena to testify in Wade’s ongoing divorce proceedings on Jan. 23, lending credibility to the claims of an extramarital affair between Willis and Wade.
Meanwhile, the motion from Willis seeks to vanquish the subpoena in Wade’s divorce case, claiming “[Joycelyn] Wade is using the legal process to harass and embarrass District Attorney Willis, and in doing so, is obstructing and interfering with an ongoing criminal prosecution,” the filing states, according to The Atlanta Journal-Consitution.
Meanwhile, Roman’s motion urges Judge McAfee to immediately dismiss the charges and disqualify Willis from continuing to pursue the case against Trump and those accused alongside him.
So far, Willis has neither confirmed nor denied the salacious claims in Roman’s court motion, which also alleged the district attorney enriched herself through the ongoing relationship with attorney Nathan Wade, whom she hired in late 2021 to prosecute Trump on 13 criminal counts for his efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election result.
Previously, the DA’s spokesperson said Willis would respond fully to the allegations “through appropriate court filings.”
Willis handpicked Wade to handle the unprecedented case against Trump, ostensibly to minimize any perceived impropriety, as Trump was the first U.S. president to ever face criminal charges.
Although Roman’s legal filing did not cite direct evidence of the alleged affair, it did raise immediate questions about the validity of Willis’ indictment against Trump while also highlighting concerns over Willis’ professional conduct.
Willis remained mum on the scandal for nearly a week before she finally broke her silence in a Jan. 14 speech at Big Bethel AME Church in Atlanta, where she was invited to speak as part of a tribute to Martin Luther King Day. However, she did not offer any specifics about her private life, and she never mentioned Wade by name, although she vaguely acknowledged some personal shortcomings, saying she was not a “perfect person.”
The debacle threatens to derail the prosecution as Roman’s filing claims Willis and Wade are actively involved in an extraordinary romance behind the scenes, constituting potential ethical and criminal violations.
Legal experts suggest Willis’ credibility is at serious stake and that she could face a legal review that could ultimately bring her downfall as Fulton County’s lead prosecutor.
In his motion, Roman also asserted that Wade is being paid a significantly higher salary than other Fulton County prosecutors, allowing him and Willis to travel together on lavish vacations, including several luxury cruises.
Roman’s petition showed Wade billed Fulton County $6,000 for 24 hours of work on Jan. 5, 2021, leading to accusations of honest services fraud — a federal crime involving improper kickbacks — which raises the prospect for Willis to face federal racketeering charges.
Since taking over the prosecution against Trump, Wade has received more than $654,000 in legal fees that Willis signed off.
In her speech before the congregation, however, Willis insisted that Wade is being paid the same as two other special prosecutors assisting him in the case against Trump
Willis faced immediate pressure to resign from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who represents Georgia’s 14th District, after she filed a complaint with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and state Attorney General Chris Carr, claiming Willis had engaged in criminal misconduct and an “illegal conflict of interest.”
