Fani Willis Hit by Court Filing Alleging Multiple Conflicts of Interest

Fani Willis has been hit by a new court filing alleging she has a "half-dozen" conflicts of interest warranting her disqualification from prosecuting Donald Trump in his Georgia election interference case.

In a filing on Wednesday, Jeffrey Clark, one of Trump's co-defendants in the case, accused Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, of "a spectacular breach" in her duties.

He added that Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor with whom Willis admitted to having an affair, "lied under oath" during her ethics hearing last month.

The Context

Last month, Willis gave evidence in a two-day hearing following accusations by former Donald Trump staffer and co-defendant Michael Roman that she was having an affair with Wade, a special prosecutor she hired in the high-profile case. It was also alleged the pair had benefited financially from taxpayers' money.

Willis and Wade later admitted they had a relationship but denied a conflict of interest. The timeline of their relationship has emerged as a key point of contention, and Roman has said it started earlier than they admitted. Trump's lawyers examined phone records alleging the pair were in a relationship before the Georgia election-fraud case began. Newsweek contacted Willis via LinkedIn for comment.

Willis is running the case against Trump and 18 others who are accused in a 41-count indictment of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia.

The former president pleaded not guilty to all 13 charges against him and has said the case is politically motivated because he is the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination.

What We Know

The filing said: "Nathan Wade obviously lied under oath in his testimony on February 15, 2024 when he was attempting to explain his obviously false interrogatory responses in his divorce case.

"We are now 20 days past that testimony. In that intervening period, the District Attorney has said and done nothing whatsoever to either disavow Mr. Wade's perjured testimony or require him to correct it. This is a spectacular breach before all the world of her duty as District Attorney to 'faithfully and impartially and without fear, favor, or affection discharge my duties as district attorney.'"

It added: "The District Attorney's professional judgment has not been merely impaired by her conflicts of interest, it has been corrupted beyond redemption."

It also accused Willis of receiving financial benefits from Wade, creating "a disqualifying financial conflict of interest in the investigation and prosecution of this case."

"The District Attorney and her office should be disqualified, and the entire case dismissed," the filing concluded.

Views

Speaking on The Stephanie Miller Show last week, Glenn Kirschner, a former assistant U.S. attorney and frequent Trump critic, said the Willis case had "spun out of control."

"At some point, you have to rein in the scope of the hearing once you've answered the question," he said. "There's no conflict, there's no financial benefit, there's no prejudice to the defendant, done, let's set a trial date. And it's sort of spun out of control."

What's Next

Judge Scott McAfee will decide whether to remove Willis from the case. He has said he will make a decision within the next two weeks.

Update 3/7/24, 8:42 a.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information and background.