Ex-President
Prosecutor in Trump trial admits relationship with other accuser
Fani Willis is a Democrat and elected attorney general in the US state of Georgia. She is the chief prosecutor in the Donald Trump case
© ZUMA Wire / Imago Images
In the middle of the US primaries, the public prosecutor in Georgia is serving Donald Trump with a template. Both accusers have a relationship. And both are involved in the process that is investigating allegations of election manipulation against the ex-president.
US Attorney Fani Willis, who is leading the case against ex-President in the state of Georgia Donald Trump’s election manipulation case has admitted to a romantic relationship with a special prosecutor she hired. In a court document filed on Friday, Atlanta’s chief prosecutor emphasized that she and Nathan Wade were not a couple when she hired him in November 2021.
While Willis acknowledged a “personal relationship” with Wade, she emphasized that there was no conflict of interest that would justify removing her from the case. This emerges from a 176-page opinion that the court published on Friday.
Willis asked the court to reject requests from Trump and two co-defendants to remove them from the case and dismiss the proceedings. The prosecutor explained that these applications have no basis whatsoever.
Donald Trump wants to discredit charges
Trump then claimed that Willis had admitted to a “sexual relationship” with the special prosecutor she hired “in coordination with the White House and the Justice Department” to bring him down – Trump. “This means that this scam is totally discredited and over,” the 77-year-old presidential candidate wrote on his online platform Truth Social.
Willis filed an indictment against Trump last August over the Republican’s attempts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and thus stay in power. A similar criminal case against the ex-president is also underway at the federal level, in addition to two other charges against Trump in other cases.
In recent weeks, reports of a liaison between Willis and Wade made headlines. Willis had hired Wade as a special prosecutor for the complex Trump case, as is often the case with public prosecutors in the United States. Wade, who is in the middle of a contentious divorce case, is said to have received more than $650,000 (around €600,000) for his work.
It’s about sex – and money
The relationship raised questions about whether Willis, in his relationship with Wade, was benefiting from money paid to him by the state of Georgia after he was hired by the state’s attorney general. Among other things, it was about shared private trips.
Willis now told the court that she and Wade always paid their own share when traveling together. Wade emphasized that Willis received “no funds or personal financial benefits through my position as special prosecutor.”
Trump and those around him are trying to use the relationship to discredit the prosecution. The ex-president portrays the trial in Georgia – as well as the other three charges against him – as an attempt by the government of his successor Joe Biden to eliminate him before the presidential election next November.
Meanwhile, the judge in charge of the federal case against Trump for election interference on Friday postponed the start of the trial, which was originally scheduled for March 4th. Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan in the capital Washington said a new date would be set at a later date.
Ex-president under pressure
Trump still has to defend himself against these lawsuits
The process is currently on hold. An appeals court is considering Trump’s request to dismiss the charges because he enjoys “absolute immunity” for actions taken while he was president. It is considered unlikely that the judiciary will follow Trump’s argument for such immunity; However, the ex-president can delay the start of the trial.