The defense attorney representing co-defendant Michael Roman, who is facing charges alongside former President Donald Trump, has raised concerns about the defense presented by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in response to corruption allegations against her.
In a recent development, Willis admitted to being in a relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she had appointed to work on the case involving former President Donald Trump. However, she firmly denied receiving any financial benefits from this relationship and urged the judge to dismiss Roman’s motion to disqualify her without a hearing. In light of this, Roman’s defense attorney has submitted a court filing raising several questions that would be addressed during cross-examination. These questions suggest that witness testimonies may contradict the claims made by Willis during the hearing.
“Let us be clear: if Mr. Roman had not uncovered the now-admitted personal relationship between Willis and Wade, no one may have ever known about it,” the filing stated. “That raises the obvious and important question: If they had nothing to hide in the first place because they did nothing wrong, then why did they intentionally not tell anyone about it until they got caught with their hand in the cookie jar?”
The filing also calls into question multiple statements that Wade made during his affidavit.
“In Paragraph 31 of your affidavit, you swore that you have never cohabitated with Ms. Willis but the attached documents show you shared a king size bed with her in Aruba from November 1, 2022 until November 4, 2022,” the filing states.
According to The Daily Caller, the travel receipts provided in the filing indicate that both Wade and Willis were registered together for a single hotel room at the Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort and Casino.
“Additionally, witnesses will testify that you cohabitated with Ms. Willis at her home in South Fulton until her father moved in with her and you then began to cohabitate at the apartment of a friend of hers in East Point,” the filing states. “Additionally, witnesses will testify that you cohabitated with Ms. Willis at an Airbnb in Hapeville that was paid for by taxpayer money to serve as a ‘safe house’ for you and Ms. Willis.”
According to Roman’s motion, Wade has failed to provide any evidence or justification for his appointment to the position, leaving both the court and the public skeptical about his experience and qualifications.
“If his experience is so significant then he should welcome the opportunity to testify as to the specifics of the cases he has tried and enjoy the candid transparency that would bring to the process instead of hiding behind an unsubstantiated claim that he has ‘tried complex’ matters including murder, rape, armed robbery, aggravated assault and drug trafficking,” it states.
The submitted document failed to cover all the allegations presented by the District Attorney’s office, including Wade’s affirmation in his sworn statement that he and Willis roughly split the personal travel expenses for the trips. Nevertheless, it did mention that Roman intends to submit a more extensive response in the future, addressing each of the State’s arguments.
“This [initial] reply is being filed now because the State seeks to have this Court cancel the evidentiary hearing based solely on assertions in pleadings,” it states.
Steve Sadow, the attorney representing Trump, issued a statement on Friday claiming that the district attorney’s filing had one clear purpose: to prevent the scheduled hearing on February 15th, which aimed to address the allegations.
Sadow stated that the District Attorney acknowledges being involved in a close relationship with her employee, Special Assistant DA Wade. However, she neglects to offer complete openness and essential financial information. In fact, she remains completely silent regarding the alleged ‘coincidence’ of Wade initiating divorce proceedings the day after being hired by the DA.