Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis finally admitted on Friday that she was romantically involved with one of her special prosecutors, Nathan Wade — but the details she and Wade have now revealed destroy any real chance former President Donald Trump can use it to get her thrown off the election racketeering case against him, argued Georgia State law professor Anthony Michael Kreis.
Wade, a defense lawyer and former municipal judge who was hired by Willis despite having little background as a prosecutor, was revealed to be having an affair with her after allegations made by an attorney for Trump co-defendant Mike Roman. Financial documents released as a result of Wade's divorce proceedings reveal he spent money on trips for the both of them.
This has led Trump and his allies to claim that Willis and Wade orchestrated the whole prosecution as a smokescreen to take public funds to support their relationship. But, wrote Kreis on X, Wade's disclosures in a new sworn affidavit contradict this.
"The chances of a successful disqualification went from 5% to .05%," wrote Kreis, noting that according to Wade's affidavit, "The relationship with Fani Willis started after his appointment as special prosecutor, the two have never cohabitated, and travel expenses have been split between them."
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The existence of a relationship between Willis and Wade, in and of itself, would not pose any legal conflict of interest, because the two of them are on the same prosecutorial team and their professional interests are aligned regardless.
However, some legal experts, like Bush administration White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter, have advised that Wade and Willis should hand off the case to other prosecutors anyway, to minimize the ability of Trump and his co-defendants to use the personal scandal as a distraction and taint the jury pool.
