Trump prosecutor Fani Willis due back in court to fight conflict claims

[February 16, 2024]  By Andrew Goudsward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor supervising the election interference case against Donald Trump, is due to testify again on Friday after rebuking defense lawyers for suggesting that she improperly benefited from a romantic relationship with a colleague.

Fulton County District Attorney Willis is set to face questions from a lawyer from her office as she seeks to repel an effort by Trump and several of his co-defendants to disqualify her office from the case. Defense lawyers have said the relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor leading the election case, posed a conflict of interest.

Willis forcefully pushed back on the allegations during her testimony on Thursday, accusing the lawyer who initially brought the claims of lying to the court in an attempt to turn scrutiny away from Trump and 14 other defendants charged in the case.

“It’s highly offensive when someone lies on you,” Willis said during her testimony.

The accusations could upend the criminal case accusing Trump and several of his political allies of illegal attempts to overturn Trump’s loss in Georgia in 2020. Trump and the remaining 14 co-defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, has long claimed that the four criminal cases against him are part an effort to damage his campaign. He has argued that the allegations against Willis and Wade have discredited the prosecution.

Trump and his co-defendants have suggested Willis improperly received perks from the relationship, including three Caribbean vacations, from Wade, while Wade was under contract with her office to work on the election interference probe.

Attorney Fani Willis speaks during a hearing in the case of State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., February 15, 2024. REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer/Pool

Willis cast herself as an independent professional who reimbursed Wade in cash for flights and hotels and paid for at least one of the trips herself.

“I don’t need anybody to foot my bills,” Willis testified.

Her testimony came on the first day of a two-day hearing in Atlanta focused on whether Trump and his co-defendants can prove the relationship resulted in an improper financial benefit. If the judge, Scott McAfee, were to disqualify Willis from pursing the prosecution, it would likely cause substantial delays while the case is transferred to a different prosecutor’s office.

Defense lawyers attempted to raise questions on Thursday about the cash payments, suggesting there is no record that Willis reimbursed the travel, and about the timing of the relationship. A former friend and employee of Willis testified that Willis and Wade began dating shortly after meeting in 2019.

Willis and Wade, who also took the stand on Thursday, both testified that the relationship became romantic in early 2022, after Wade was hired to work on the case.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Scott Malone and Deepa Babington)

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