Staff Reports
Fani Willis, the Fulton County District Attorney, pushed back against subpoenas aiming to make her and her staff testify in a hearing to determine if she was involved in misconduct regarding the case against former President Donald Trump. In a nine-page motion, she argued that the subpoenas were simply an attempt to dig up evidence to support baseless claims from previous court filings and should be dismissed.
Meanwhile, Trump has been vocal about his desire to see Willis barred from prosecuting the case against him and 18 other defendants. His co-defendant, Jeffrey Clark, joined five others in seeking Willis’s disqualification. This push intensified after Mike Roman, another co-defendant, accused Willis of being romantically involved with Nathan Wade, the attorney appointed as special prosecutor for the case. Roman alleged that this relationship resulted in financial benefits for both Willis and Wade.
FANI Tries to Dodge Testifying About Her Alleged Misconduct https://t.co/dZDGXX5NuE
— Eric Martin (@ZuckerbergRpt) February 8, 2024
Willis responded to these allegations by asserting that her conduct was not improper, although she did not deny the romantic relationship. A group of legal ethics experts, including a former White House ethics lawyer, also weighed in, arguing that Willis’s actions did not warrant her removal from the case.
Trump’s lawyers cited Willis’s comments at a public speech, where she asserted her qualification to lead the prosecution and accused those questioning her abilities of playing the race card. They argued that her remarks created an appearance of impropriety and undermined her prosecutorial judgment.
The case is set for a hearing on Feb. 15, during which the judge will consider the motions to disqualify Willis and dismiss the indictments. It remains to be seen how the judge will rule, with the ethics experts noting the high bar for a judge to remove a sitting prosecutor.
