Georgia Senate knocked for letting lawyer spout inadmissible evidence against Fani Willis

Speaking to a Republican-led Georgia Senate panel on Wednesday, the lawyer for Donald Trump's co-defendant, Mike Roman, listed complaints against Fulton County District Attorney that had nothing to do with the investigation into an inappropriate relationship, onlookers said.

MSNBC legal analyst and host Katie Phang noted that Roman lawyer Ashleigh Merchant failed to offer new evidence for claims that Willis should be disqualified from prosecuting the election interference case.

She then "complained" to the GOP "panel about Willis using funding earmarked for homicides and COVID backlog cases for the election interference case."

Willis is at the center of claims from Trump and his co-defendants in Georgia that Willis should be disqualified from prosecuting her election interference case because she had an inappropriate relationship with the chief prosecutor, Nathan Wade.

The judge in the case said he expects to reach a decision in less than two weeks.

But the Senate hearing will have no bearing on the judge's decision as it's not admissible as evidence, an expert said.

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"Merchant also alleged that Willis hired Wade in a manner to avoid oversight and that she paid him more than other, more experienced prosecutors," Phang said. She also "went over Wade's cellphone records and [former Wade colleague] Terrence Bradley's text messages."

Lawfare's Anna Bower called it pointless testimony because, "What Merchant says before the committee today won't be admissible as evidence."

"For those watching the livestream, keep in mind that this is not an adversarial process," explained Bower. "You'll only hear Merchant's side of the story today as she answers questions from the Senate committee investigating Fani Willis."

Town Hall columnist Phil Holloway pointed out that Merchant also alleged that there was "witness tampering" in "her motion to disqualify Fani Willis." Merchant didn't give specifics, however.

CNN's Zachary Cohen wrote online that the GOP committee is "certainly giving her a platform" to hear "Merchant's side of the story today."

Lawyer A.J. Delgado argued, "This Merchant lady should be sanctioned for even bringing this," referring to the complaint to have Willis removed.