Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her alleged lover and lead prosecutor on the Trump election fraud case in Georgia have been hit with subpoenas to testify at a court hearing later this month, according to a report.
The lawyers for Trump co-defendant Michael Roman are seeking to have criminal charges against their client thrown out over the alleged “clandestine” affair between Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade — a claim which will be fleshed out at a Feb. 15 hearing where Willis and Wade have been subpoenaed to testify, the Atlanta Journal-Conservative reported.
Roman’s lawyer Ashleigh Merchant filed suit Tuesday against the DA’s office claiming it has been stonewalling turning over information the lawyer sought via the Open Records act in order to be ready for the hearing in two weeks.
“It is disappointing to have to file lawsuits to obtain access to records that the public is entitled to,” Merchant told AJC Wednesday. “We believe that transparency is vital to an open and responsible government and we hope that this can be resolved quickly so that we can get the public documents we are entitled to receive.”
The DA’s office on Friday told Merchant her suit was “disingenuous” as they’d already complied with her request for the information.
They clarified that some of the records Merchant was seeking are still being compiled for her, some the office doesn’t have, and others have already been turned over to her.
Merchant disclosed in the suit that she was seeking Willis’ and Wade’s testimony — though it’s unclear if the duo will try to get out of testifying publicly.
Separately on Tuesday, nonprofit watchdog group the Judicial Watch filed sued for all records related to Wade’s hiring with the group’s president claiming Willis may have “something to hide,” Law & Crime reported.
That suit claims the group was given the runaround in its public records request from Jan. 11 for all information related to Wade’s appointment spanning from Jan. 1, 2021 to Jan. 11, 2024.
“Fani Willis’ politicized and unprecedented prosecution of former President Trump has been further compromised by credible allegations of personal corruption tied to the hiring of Nathan Wade as special prosecutor!” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said on X Tuesday. “That Judicial Watch had to a file a lawsuit to try to get records about this scandal further suggests that there is something to hide.”
The group received an email on Jan. 18 notifying them to check their account as a letter was posted there responding to the records request, when in fact no letter was there, the filing claims.
That same day, the group emailed the Fulton County Records Center and later called and left a voicemail with the agency, but to date no one has responded, the suit claims.
This all while, “Plaintiff has a clear legal right to the records requested and Defendant has a duty to provide them,” alleges the suit against at Fulton County, first reported by Law & Crime.
Allegations of an affair between Willis and Wade first emerged last month, as Trump co-defendant Michael Roman sought to have the criminal charges dropped against him on the grounds of prosecutorial misconduct.
The scandal dragged Wade’s ongoing divorce into the spotlight as well since he filed to end the marriage the day after he stepped into the special prosecutor role and as he was still technically married when the alleged relationship was happening.
In fact, Wade’s estranged wife Joycelyn Wade sought to force Willis to answer questions under oath in the divorce case — as she claimed her husband was spending his money treating Willis to vacations to California and Miami while leaving her with little to live on.
But the pair reached a temporary settlement Tuesday on the eve of a scheduled court hearing Wednesday morning where further details of the alleged affair were likely to have emerged.
A hearing was set in Roman’s criminal case for later this month for Willis’ office to answer questions about the alleged misconduct and conflict of interest.
And the DA is under investigation by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners’ audit committee over the potential “misuse” of taxpayer money.