'I disagree': Lawyer clashes with colleagues who say Fani Willis should stay on Trump case

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has come under fire for hiring a man with whom she was allegedly romantically involved, and a legal expert outlined the circumstances in which he believes that might get her disqualified from the Donald Trump election interference case.

Willis paid nearly $700,000 to special prosecutor Nathan Wade, who has limited criminal litigation experience, to help two other highly qualified special prosecutors investigate the Georgia racketeering case involving former president Trump and 18 of his Republican allies, and Georgia criminal defense lawyer Andrew Fleischman wrote a column for The Daily Beast explaining how that could get her taken off the case - and why it should.

"In the past week, we’ve seen commentary from law professors and former federal prosecutors arguing that Fulton County (Georgia) District Attorney Fani Willis should not be disqualified," he wrote.

"I disagree."

Making his argument, he said, "The man’s credentials are, regardless, a bit of a sideshow. They are relevant only to suggest that there was a personal relationship between Willis and Wade. It certainly doesn’t help that Wade filed papers to divorce his wife the day after Fani Willis hired him. But even if he were indisputably the best person possible for the role, he was paid $654,000, and Willis made choices throughout her prosecution that seem, in hindsight, calculated to require him."

ALSO READ: Revealed: Donors foot the bill for Marjorie Taylor Greene's election law violation

Fulton County announced in 2022 that prosecutors would employ a rarely used special grand jury to gather evidence, but not indict anyone, after recordings captured Trump lying to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger about the vote count, and the former president also sent attorney Rudy Giuliani to encourage state legislators to send fake electors to overturn his election loss.

"In other words, the makings of a hard-to-challenge criminal conviction were already there," Fleischman wrote. "But instead, Wade was broadly used during those special grand jury proceedings, and he earned hundreds of thousands of dollars helping to conduct them."

The other two special prosecutors, former DeKalb County Assistant District Attorney Anna Cross and John Floyd, who is widely considered the state's leading expert on state RICO prosecutions, together billed just $116,000, and Fleischman said Willis could have a problem if an investigation established that she dragged out the investigation to benefit Wade.

"The standard to disqualify in Fulton County here is not whether Fani Willis actually made her decisions to benefit Nathan Wade," Fleischman said. "It’s plausible that she would have made the exact same choices without the personal relationship. But if her choices to extend or prolong the investigation to benefit a romantic partner, who is paying for her meals and vacations, that is an actual conflict."

Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee intends to hold a hearing next month to look into the allegations, which could potentially delay the RICO case but not kill it entirely.

"Judge McAfee has stated his intention to hold a hearing in February to look over the truth of these allegations," Fleischman said. "If they are true, the case will not be dismissed, but it is likely that he will disqualify Fani Willis, which, under Georgia law, will require disqualifying her entire office. The case will then go to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, which will decide who the case can go on to next."