Filing in Georgia Trump case alleges ‘improper’ relationship between prosecutors

An attorney for one of the defendants charged along with former President Donald J. Trump in the Georgia election interference case said in a court filing Monday that the prosecutor who oversaw the case, Fani T. Willis, was a “ clandestine relationship. with the special prosecutor she hired to help handle it.

The filing, from an attorney representing Michael A. Roman, a former Trump campaign official, provided no evidence of the relationship or other claims it contained. It argued that the relationship should disqualify Ms. Willis, her office and the special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, from prosecuting the case.

Defense attorney Ashleigh B. Merchant also wrote that Ms. Willis, the district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, “benefited significantly from this prosecution at the expense of taxpayers,” charging that Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade had taken vacations along with the money he earned working for her office.

Citing “information obtained outside of court records,” Ms. Merchant wrote that Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade “have personally traveled together to places such as Napa Valley, Florida and the Caribbean” and that Mr. Wade had purchased cruise ship tickets for them.

Ms. Merchant also argued in the filing that Ms. Willis had not received proper approval to appoint Mr. Wade and as a result the case should be dismissed. Mr. Wade is one of several outside lawyers Ms. Willis’ office is paying to help with the Trump case, a complex indictment against 15 people.

It is unclear what impact the claims will have on the prosecution in Georgia, one of several criminal cases against Mr. Trump. The former president filed a series of motions in the case on Monday, including one in which his lawyers argued he is immune from prosecution in the case.

Clark D. Cunningham, a professor of law and ethics at Georgia State University, reviewed Mr. Roman’s filing and questioned why it did not contain any evidence of a relationship between the two plaintiffs.

“If Roman’s attorney has actual evidence of an improper relationship between Willis and Wade, it was incumbent upon her to submit that portion of her motion, such as by attaching affidavits from witnesses with personal knowledge or authentic documents” , he said in an email. .

Ms Merchant said in a telephone interview that she had reviewed documents showing that Mr Wade and Ms Willis had traveled together to holiday destinations and that Mr Wade had paid for some of the tickets. She said she believed the documents were included in Mr. Wade’s sealed divorce filings. She asked for those documents to be sealed in a separate court filing this week.

Ms. Merchant’s claims were reported previously by The Atlanta-Journal Constitution. They appeared in a 39-page motion filed Monday in Fulton County Superior Court on behalf of Mr. Roman, who as a Trump campaign official in 2020 participated in a plan to organize pro-Trump voters in Georgia despite the defeat of the Mr Trump there. .

Mr. Roman has been charged with seven counts, including conspiracy to commit forgery and violation of Georgia’s racketeering law.

Jeff DiSantis, a spokesman for Ms. Willis’ office, said only that the office would “respond appropriately in court.”

Ms. Merchant wrote in the motion that it was not “filed lightly.”

“It is also not submitted without much deliberation, research or investigation,” she added.

According to her filing, “sources close to” Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade confirmed to Ms. Merchant that the two had an “ongoing, personal relationship” that began before Ms. Willis hired Mr. Wade to oversee the Trump case.

The filing states that Mr. Wade, who has his own private practice, has earned more than $650,000 for his work in the prosecutor’s office.