Trump lawyer reviews 'salacious' allegations against Georgia prosecutors
Former President Donald J. Trump's attorney in Atlanta on Friday asked a judge for more time to review “salacious” allegations against two prosecutors leading the racketeering case against Mr. Trump, saying he might join a attempt to disqualify them.
The matter was raised during a hearing in the election interference case against Mr Trump and fourteen of his allies. The office of Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis did not respond Monday to a lawsuit accusing her of a relationship with the lead prosecutor she hired for the Trump case, Nathan Wade.
Mr. Wade has received more than $650,000 in legal fees since Ms. Willis hired him in November 2021. The filing said Ms. Willis had “significantly benefited from this prosecution at the expense of taxpayers,” accusing her and Mr. Wade of “significantly benefiting from this prosecution.” Wade had been taking vacations along with the money he earned working for her office.
The development has galvanized Republicans and raised questions about Ms. Willis' judgment as she handles one of the nation's highest-profile cases. On Friday, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, a Trump ally and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, used the allegations as the basis for looking for more records from the district attorney's office.
Ms. Willis has previously accused Mr. Jordan of trying to “obstruct a criminal proceeding in Georgia and advance outrageous partisan misrepresentations.”
As Mr. Wade looked on impassively in the courtroom, Mr. Trump's lawyer, Steven H. Sadow, appearing virtually, asked for an extension of the deadline for filing preliminary motions that expired earlier this month.
“This is the first motion to make factual allegations directly targeting our opposition lawyers,” Mr. Sadow said. “Suffice to say, they are lascivious and scandalous in nature.”
He said he was “distrustful” of joining such a motion “without having a better understanding or substantiation of the allegations,” and asked for time to review the case once Ms. Willis' office had responded. Neither she nor anyone from the office has commented on the allegations since they first came to light Monday afternoon.
The presiding judge, Scott McAfee of the Fulton County Superior Court, granted Mr. Sadow's request. He said he would hold a hearing on the matter in early February at the earliest.
Mr. Sadow is not the only lawyer investigating the case. Craig Gillen, an attorney for David Shafer, the former head of the Republican Party, said: “We're going to do our own investigation and determine whether or not we're going to adopt or supplement that motion.”
Headlines about the allegations have overtaken news of the case itself this week. The allegations are laid out in a filing by Mike Roman, a former Trump campaign official and one of the defendants in the Georgia case. His filing offered no evidence of the accusers' relationship, but claimed they were seen “in a personal relationship” near Atlanta and claimed people close to both of them confirmed this.
The filing also suggested that the relationship was the reason Ms. Willis chose Mr. Wade, who had never presided over a high-profile criminal case and had worked largely as a suburban attorney and municipal judge.
The day after Mr. Wade began working for the district attorney's office, he filed for divorce. Lawyers for his wife, Joycelyn, issued a subpoena to Mrs. Willis this week, requesting her Jan. 23 testimony in the Wades' divorce case.
Ms. Willis' office gave no indication Friday when it would file in response to the claims.
Legal experts generally believe that the allegations are unlikely to derail the case, even if substantiated, because they do not address the underlying facts. But they could pose significant distractions and problems for Ms. Willis, who is up for re-election this year. Republicans have already accused her of violating county and state laws and ethics rules.
The timing of a lawsuit remains unclear. Ms. Willis' office requested a trial date of August 5 several weeks ago, but the judge has not yet set a date and did not hear the case Friday. Ms Willis has said she expects the trial to take place next year.
Georgia is one of six swing states facing investigations or prosecutions related to efforts by Mr. Trump and his allies to use fake voters to overcome his election defeat. Criminal charges have already been filed against voters in Georgia, Michigan and Nevada, and investigations are underway in Arizona, New Mexico and Wisconsin.
The Georgia case is the only one that goes beyond fake voters and accuses a number of individuals of what prosecutors describe as a vast conspiracy to keep Mr. Trump in power.
During Friday's hearing, the judge and attorneys for both sides went through a number of preliminary motions.
Mr. Sadow was following up on a recent request seeking more information about communications Georgia prosecutors had with the White House Counsel's Office and the House committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol. While these interactions have sparked significant outrage among Trump allies, Georgia prosecutors have indicated since 2021 that they wanted to use the House committee as a tool.
And prosecutors likely consulted with the current White House counsel as the testimony of a number of former White House officials, including former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, was sought.
Many of the recent filings are designed to thwart the Georgia case. One lawyer, Christopher Anulewicz, argued Friday that “every accusation, every thing the state says was done wrong, are all statements, political statements” about the 2020 election results that “fall within the category of civil disobedience.”
John Floyd, a member of the prosecution team, disagreed.
“Lying by making a false statement is not civil disobedience. Perjury is not civil disobedience. These things are deceptive. These things are immoral,” he said. “It does not evoke a higher moral principle, it is sneaky and dishonest.”
Christian Boone And Richard Fausset reporting contributed.