Fulton County DA Fani Willis has received a legal order, known as a subpoena, to provide testimony in the divorce case of her colleague. This development suggests that investigators have grounds to suspect that she may have compromised her own prosecution of former President Donald Trump due to allegations of an inappropriate romantic involvement.
DA Willis was informed by a process server who visited her office in Georgia that she is required to participate in the divorce proceedings of Nathan Wade, a lawyer whom she had previously engaged as a special prosecutor in the case against Trump, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The subpoena, requested by Joycelyn Wade, the wife of Wade, was delivered to Willis’s executive assistant.
A representative from Willis declined to provide a statement but assured that a response to the subpoena would be provided in the near future. However, as of Wednesday morning, no answer has been made public.
Interrogations on DA Willis’s romantic affairs arose when a co-defendant of Trump submitted a motion to remove her office from the proceedings, claiming an “improper, clandestine personal relationship during the pendency of this case.” Mike Roman, a former Trump campaign official, is among the individuals who have been accused, along with President Trump and 16 other individuals, of engaging in efforts to undermine the outcome of Georgia’s 2020 election.
Ashleigh Merchant, a lawyer for Roman, stated that the connection between Willis and Wade led to the special prosecutor and subsequently the district attorney benefiting greatly from this prosecution, while the taxpayers bore the cost. She asserts that the documents within the confidential divorce case would provide evidence to support Roman’s accusations, and she has asked the judge to order their disclosure.
During an interview on Monday night, Merchant stated that she had thoroughly examined all the minutes of the meeting of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, whose responsibility it is to authorize the appointment of special prosecutors. She asserts that she was unable to locate any occurrence in which DA Willis formally requested the employment of Wade.
Merchant’s legal submissions surprised the Atlanta judicial world and rapidly attracted attention nationwide, thrusting DA Willis, a hitherto obscure leftist prosecutor, into the intense spotlight of the national arena. The outcome of her racketeering case, currently being heard by Judge Scott McAfee in Fulton County Superior Court, may depend on whether or not she strictly adhered to the legal requirements in her personal affairs. She was previously accused of being involved in a love relationship with a former drug dealer who was later convicted by her office.
Earlier this week, regarding a separate case, Trump vehemently criticized President Biden and cautioned about the potential chaos that could ensue if his prosecution is let to proceed. This statement was made shortly after his counsel claimed in court that he possesses complete immunity from any legal action stemming from his tenure as president.
Trump criticized the Biden administration, labeling it as a ‘threat to democracy,’ and reiterated his belief in ‘tremendous voter fraud,’ despite several court decisions that have rejected his and his supporters’ allegations.
‘It’s very unfair when a political opponent is prosecuted by the DOJ, by Biden’s DOJ. So they’re losing in every poll, losing in almost every demographic…numbers came out today that are really very mind-boggling if you happen to be Joe Biden,’ Trump remarked from a hotel in the nation’s capital.
‘And I think they feel this is the way they’re going to try and win and that’s not the way it goes. It’ll be bedlam in the country. It’s a very bad thing. It’s a very bad precedent. As we said it’s the opening of a Pandora’s Box,’ Trump stated.
He was adopting a word that his lawyer John Sauer used in court, as well as one that his lawyer John Lauro devised in conjunction with Trump.
‘If we adopt what the Special Counsel wants, if we adopt what President Biden wants, then we open the Pandora’s Box to political prosecution after political prosecution after political prosecution,’ said Lauro. ‘In fact, Joe Biden could be prosecuted for trying to stop this man from becoming the next President of the United States,’ he warned.
‘It’s a very sad thing that’s happened with this whole situation. When they talk about threat to democracy that’s your threat to democracy. And I feel that as a president you have to have immunity,’ Trump opined.
Following his statements on the ‘bedlam’ term, a reporter vociferously posed a question to Trump, inquiring whether he would unequivocally denounce any form of violence. Trump departed without offering a response.
Trump subsequently asserted that Biden may face prosecution for the disorderly U.S. pullout from Afghanistan, which occurred after a postponed departure date that was arranged during the Trump administration, and then emphasized the need of immunity.