Trump co-defendant sues Fani Willis' office for 'intentionally withholding' records

Mike Roman, a Republican charged alongside former President Donald Trump in the Georgia election racketeering case, has sued the Fulton County District Attorney's Office, accusing prosecutor Fani Willis and her staff of "intentionally withholding" records in violation of state sunshine laws.

The suit was first reported by Lawfare's Anna Bower. It does not name Willis individually as a defendant.

"As shown more fully below, FCDA is in clear violation of the Act, appears to be intentionally withholding information in advance of scheduled evidentiary hearings in two separate proceedings, and has forced Plaintiff to take action through this filing to obtain relief," said the suit. "These are not the efforts of an agency that values 'transparency', and Plaintiff requests that the Court grant the relief requested herein, and find that FCDA must permit inspection and/or copying of numerous categories of documents that still have not been made available to Plaintiff. It is evident that FCDA has withheld the records without substantial justification."

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Roman is seeking the records ahead of a hearing that seeks to disqualify Willis as the prosecutor in the case, which charges Trump and over a dozen GOP-affiliated lawyers and party operatives with essentially running an organized crime ring to block certification of the 2020 presidential vote in Georgia.

An attorney representing Roman has put forward allegations that Willis is romantically involved with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor hired for the case, and that Wade has spent lavishly on vacations for the two of them — a claim supported by financial statements revealed in Wade's divorce proceedings. Willis has defended her decision to hire Wade, who previously worked as a defense attorney and municipal judge but has little prosecutorial experience.

Legal experts have broadly said that a relationship between the two would not be a conflict of interest, since they both are on the same legal team; however, some have called for Wade, at the very least, and possibly Willis herself, to step aside and get rid of a distraction from the case.