Fani Willis' Problems Are Getting Worse

Pressure is not letting up on Fani Willis as she awaits the outcome of her ethics hearing, with a potential new witness offering to testify against her and the threat of a bill which would give a Georgia commission powers to remove prosecutors.

Last month, the Fulton County district attorney 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 Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor she hired in the election fraud case against Trump. 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 former president's Georgia election fraud case began. Newsweek contacted Willis via LinkedIn for comment.

Judge Scott McAfee has said he will decide whether to remove Willis from the case within the next two weeks. But after the hearing ended, a new key potential witness has emerged who could upend the outcome—and experts are astonished Willis and Wade have not quit the Trump case.

In a Monday court filing, Cindi Lee Yeager, a co-chief deputy district attorney for the Cobb County, Georgia, district attorney's office, countered evidence from Terrence Bradley, Wade's former divorce lawyer, who testified in support of the pair's reported relationship timeline. Yeager said Bradley told her Willis and Wade's relationship began earlier than they stated.

Reacting to the filing, legal scholar Jonathan Turley told Fox News that he was surprised the pair were staying on the election fraud case.

"What is very clear is that the continuation of Wade and Willis is undermining their case, undermining their office, and they have put their interests before that of the public," he said.

"I am quite astonished that they have not stepped aside. They have an independent professional obligation towards their office, obviously to the people of the county. I don't believe that they are shouldering that responsibility regardless of what the court is doing or will do."

Meanwhile, Governor of Georgia Bill Kemp has said he will sign a new bill which would give a state commission powers to discipline and remove prosecutors.

The state House sent the bill to the Republican governor for approval, having voted for it 97-73 on Tuesday, with Democrats voicing their disapproval of it.

Republicans have denied the measure was created with Willis in mind, when passed it could be used to remove her from Trump's case.

Speaking to Newsweek, Mark Shanahan, who teaches American politics at the University of Surrey in the U.K., called the measure "an egregiously partisan move on behalf of Georgia Republicans in thrall to Donald Trump."

He added: "While it's likely to face its own legal challenges as soon as Governor Kemp signs it, it is sure to be a threat to DA Willis' ability to continue leading Fulton County's case against the former president. This is a highly charged political move on the part of the Georgia legislature with all the hallmarks of stymying the rule of law rather than enabling it. It fits within the overall GOP strategy of delaying legal process involving Donald Trump right across the next eight months in the run-up to the presidential election."

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.