Fulton County, Georgia district attorney Fani Willis, who brought charges against former President Donald Trump on election interference, claims allegations brought against her of having an "improper" romantic relationship with a prosecutor were made because they are Black.
Court documents filed earlier this month say Willis hired special prosecutor Nathan Wade, her alleged partner, to prosecute Trump and benefited financially from the relationship in the form of lavish vacations the two went on using funds his firm received for working the case.
For the first time since the allegations were made, Willis spoke on the matter at the Big Bethel AME Church in Atlanta on Sunday.
"They only attacked one," she said. "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," Willis asked.
Willis had remained mum in public on the matter, though she still has neither confirmed nor denied the allegations brought against her and Wade, who was involved in bringing an indictment against Trump for election interference.
Although she never mentioned Wade by name during the speech on Sunday, she referred to the man as "a great friend and a great lawyer."
Trump’s co-defendant, Michael Roman, accused Willis and Wade of having an "improper" and "clandestine" affair at the same time appointments were being made for the 2020 election interference case.
Roman was a former official on Trump’s 2020 campaign and argued about the integrity of the case being compromised because of the affair, last week in court, asking for the charges against Roman to be dropped.
"The district attorney chose to appoint her romantic partner, who at all times relevant to this prosecution has been a married man," court documents read.
Fulton County records show Wade has been paid nearly $654,000 in legal fees since January 2022, an amount authorized by the district attorney, or Willis in this case.
The filing also calls for the entire district attorney's office, including Willis and Wade, to be disqualified from prosecuting the case.
Willis said on Sunday that John Floyd and Anna Green Cross, both prosecutors assigned to the case, are both white and were not targeted.
"Isn’t it them playing the race card when they constantly think I need someone from some other jurisdiction in some other state to tell me how to do a job I’ve been doing almost 30 years," Willis asked.
Trump was indicted by Willis in August and pleaded not guilty to charges related to allegedly attempting to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, including violation of Georgia's anti-racketeering law.
Roman, alongside Trump, was hit with a racketeering charge as part of Willis’ case and was charged with seven felony counts last August.
The Georgia case is one of four pending against Trump; he also faces charges in New York City, Florida and Washington, D.C.
Georgia DA Willis's claims that the charges against Nathan Wade were racially motivated, since two other prosecutors hired by her, John Floyd and Anna Cross, who were white were not similarity charged. Willis's claim is somewhat disingenuous, since Willis was romantically linked only with Nathan Wade and shared luxurious vacations only with Nathan Wade and not with Floyd or Cross.
ReplyDeleteUnless of course, Willis bolsters her claim of racial prejudice by conceding that she was similarly romantically linked with either (or both) John Floyd and Anna Cross who are white, and only Nathan Wade, the black prosecutor was named in the documents submitted to the court by the defense.
And if such similar assignations are alleged, one wonders whether such trysts were completed in succession or simultaneously with Willis's encounters with Nathan Wade. If the latter, one cannot help but admire the prowess of both Fani Willis and Nathan Wade. Also, if such activity were recorded, would Ms. Willis make it available for viewing by the public if offered a substantial fee? I think Ms. Willis might profit handsomely from her endeavors. After all, it isn't every day that one can have a front row seat to such prosti.... er excuse me, prosecutorial misconduct. :)