The charges against Atlanta prosecutor Fani Willis: What we know

The election interference case against former President Donald J. Trump and 14 of his allies in Georgia has been plagued by allegations that the lead prosecutor, Fani T. Willis, had a romantic relationship with a lawyer she hired to help with the case.

Mr. Trump and one of his co-defendants, Michael Roman, are now trying to convince a judge that the alleged relationship has created a conflict of interest that should be grounds for disqualifying Ms. Willis, the Fulton County district attorney; the hired attorney, Nathan J. Wade; and Mrs. Willis's entire office.

Although the legal issue will not be heard in court until mid-February, some important developments in the case could occur this week. Mr. Wade has been ordered to appear at a hearing on his divorce case on Wednesday, where he could be forced to take a stand and answer questions about his relationship with Ms. Willis. And Ms. Willis faces a Friday deadline for her legal response to the effort to have her dropped from the election interference case.

The allegations were first made in a lawsuit filed on Jan. 8 by Mr. Roman, a former Trump campaign official. Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Roman are also trying to get the cases against them dismissed, though these efforts are likely to be long-term.

The question of whether the plaintiffs should be disqualified if the claims are proven true is divided legal experts. Some have called for Mr. Wade and Ms. Willis to resign from the case, in part to avoid the possibility of a trial date being postponed.

Whatever the judge's ruling, the charges have become a distraction for Ms. Willis, a Democrat and veteran prosecutor who is up for re-election this year. The investigation into her conduct is likely to begin soon, led by panels controlled by Republicans who enjoy a healthy majority in the Georgia legislature.

Here are a few things to know about this complicated subplot in the prosecution of Mr. Trump and others for trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia.

What are the allegations against Fani Willis?

In the lawsuits seeking to have her dismissed from the case, Ms. Willis is accused of hiring Mr. Wade, who never led a high-profile criminal prosecution, because she was in a romantic relationship with him.

She is also accused of profiting from Mr Wade's income from her office – taxpayers' money – by accompanying him on holidays for which he sometimes paid.

Mr. Roman's motion notes that Georgian law recognizes conflicts of interest, especially those involving a showing that a prosecutor has “a personal interest or stake in the conviction of the suspect,” as grounds for removal.

In this case, the motion said, Mr. Wade has been paid more than $650,000 since he started his job with the district attorney's office in November 2021. The filing alleges that he then paid some of the costs of the vacations he and Ms. Willis took together. to Napa Valley, California, Miami and the Caribbean.

Excerpts from Mr. Wade's credit card statements, released by his estranged wife as part of their divorce case, show that he bought plane tickets to Miami and San Francisco for himself and Ms. Willis.

All of this, Mr. Roman says in the filing, amounts to Ms. Willis “awarding lucrative contracts to her friend” and then profiting from them. As a result, the filing states, “both have acquired a personal interest and stake in Mr. Roman's conviction, depriving Mr. Roman of his right to a fundamentally fair trial.”

The motion alleges that the two attorneys began their relationship before Mr. Wade was hired, and argues that Mr. Wade was not qualified to handle such a large case. The New York Times reporting has not revealed any evidence that Mr. Wade ever prosecuted a major political corruption case or a criminal racketeering case.

Mr. Roman also accuses Ms. Willis of violating county and state bar rules, and possibly federal laws regarding honest services fraud and racketeering.

A separate filing from Mr. Trump on Jan. 25 argued that Ms. Willis violated Georgia's bar rules for plaintiffs when she claimed during a recent speech at an Atlanta church that racism was one of the reasons she was under scrutiny. Both Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade are black.

Mr. Roman's motion also seeks to dismiss the charges against him on the grounds that Ms. Willis did not have the legal authority to appoint Mr. Wade as special prosecutor because her office did not have the approval of the board of commissioners of Fulton County had requested when hiring. Mr. Wade. But both the commission chairman and the county attorney have said Ms. Willis did not need county approval to hire Mr. Wade.

What has Ms. Willis said about the allegations?

Ms. Willis has not addressed allegations that she had a romantic relationship with Mr. Wade. Her office has said the answer will come in formal legal documents. In her speech at the church in Atlanta, Ms. Willis called herself an “imperfect” person.

She turned to God and said, “You didn't tell me that as a woman of color, it didn't matter what I did—my motive, my talent, my ability, and my character would be under constant attack.”

What problems could this pose to the election interference case?

It seems unlikely that the allegations will lead to the Trump case being dismissed. But they may already be influencing the way prospective jurors think about the integrity of Ms. Willis and the prosecution team.

The presiding judge, Scott McAfee of the Fulton County Superior Court, will have to rule on Mr. Roman's request to disqualify the plaintiffs, and has scheduled a hearing for February 15.

While disqualification may seem like an extreme measure, there is precedent within the Trump case itself. In July 2022, Judge McAfee's predecessor, Robert CI McBurney, disqualified Ms. Willis and her office from developing a criminal case against Burt Jones, now the lieutenant governor of Georgia, because Ms. Willis had led a fundraising campaign for one of his political opponents.

If Ms. Willis' office were removed from the Trump case, the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia, a state agency, would have to find another prosecutor. That group has not yet found a prosecutor to handle the Jones case.

One of the most prominent legal figures to reject the idea that Ms. Willis should be disqualified is Norman Eisen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who served as special counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during Trump's first impeachment.

Mr. Eisen wrote together with legal scholars Richard Painter and Joyce Vance in a recent article that the allegations against the two plaintiffs are “as irrelevant to the trial as allegations in other situations that plaintiffs seized office supplies for personal use, drove county vehicles on personal errands, or plagiarized portions of their student law notes.”

“These are all legitimate issues — which prosecutors and those with oversight responsibilities must address — but such allegations do not halt criminal prosecutions or require cases to be transferred to another agency,” they wrote.

What could be the consequences for Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade?

The two accusers will likely face numerous investigations. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia and Trump ally, has filed a complaint with the state ethics commission. The State Bar of Georgia has also likely received complaints, although such complaints are not public at the time they are filed.

Mr. Wade and Ms. Willis are also likely to be investigated by a government body created last year, the Prosecuting Attorneys' Qualifications Commission. Although the commission is currently in a legal and operational no man's land, it may be operational in the coming weeks or months. It is controlled by Republicans and will most likely have the power to punish or fire prosecutors in Georgia.

In addition, the Republican-controlled Georgia Senate established a panel for the express purpose of investigating Ms. Willis. This body has no power to remove her from office, but it does have the power to summon her. The hearings could cause embarrassment and political harm to the prosecutor.

State Rep. Charlice Byrd, a Republican, has introduced a resolution calling for Ms. Willis' impeachment, but Republicans do not have enough votes in the Senate to unilaterally remove her from office.

Bob Ellis, a Republican on the Fulton County Board of Commissioners and chairman of the audit committee, has launched an investigation and has asked Ms. Willis to provide numerous documents, including invoices and payments to special prosecutors. The committee does not have the authority to determine the elected prosecutor.

What's the latest in the case against Donald Trump and his allies?

In an indictment returned by a grand jury in August, Mr. Trump and 18 of his allies were charged under the state's racketeering law, along with other serious crimes. Four suspects have now pleaded guilty. A trial date has not yet been set.