Fani Willis, the District Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, now will have to appear for a hearing on February 15 over allegations that she had a relationship with one of the three special prosecutors she appointed for her case against Donald Trump and more than a dozen of the members of his 2020 legal and campaign teams.
As background, former Trump Campaign official Michael Roman alleged in court documents filed early in January of 2024 that Willis was having a sexual relationship with Wade and had profited from that relationship and the payments her office was making to Wade for his work on the case, such as by taking vacations with him.
Those allegations led to swift criticism of Willis from the right, with political figures like Sen. JD Vance and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene calling for a criminal investigation of Willis over the allegations. Further, a bar complaint has been filed against her.
Now, she’ll have to face a hearing before a Superior Court judge over the allegations. That’s because Judge Scott McAfee of the Fulton County Superior Court agreed to hear the matter and scheduled, on Thursday, January 18, the hearing for February 15.
Tamar Hallerman of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, posting about the matter on X, said, “Breaking: Fulton Judge Scott McAfee is scheduling an evidentiary hearing on Feb. 15 to examine recent relationship allegations about DA Fani Willis. He’s giving her until Feb. 2 to respond.”
Hallerman also shared a screenshot of Judge McAfee’s order, in which he said, “Having read and considered the Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss and Disqualify filed January 8, 2024 (Doc. 61), this matter is scheduled for an evidentiary hearing on Thursday, February 15, 2024, at 9:30 a.m. in Courtroom 5A, 136 Pryor Street S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30303. The State is directed to file a written response by February 2, 2024.”
In the filing that sparked the outcry against Willis, Roman’s legal team said it “moves this Honorable Court for an order striking the special purpose grand jury report and dismissing the criminal indictment in its entirety against Mr. Roman on the grounds that the entire prosecution is invalid and unconstitutional because the Fulton County district attorney never had legal authority to appoint the special prosecutor, who assisted in obtaining both grand jury indictments.”
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In that filing, Roman’s attorney, Ashleigh B. Merchant, also said, “The instant Motion is not filed lightly. Nor is it being filed without considerable forethought, research or investigation…Nonetheless, this Motion must be heard, as the issues raised herein strike at the heart of fairness in our justice system and, if left unaddressed and unchecked, threaten to taint the entire prosecution, invite error, and completely undermine public confidence in the eventual outcome of this proceeding.”
Willis, for her part, suggested that the criticism of her is about race, saying, “I’m a little confused. I appointed three special counsel, as is my right to do. Paid them all the same hourly rate. They only attack one. I hired one white woman, a good personal friend and great lawyer. A superstar, I tell you, I hired one white man, brilliant, my friend and a great lawyer. And I hired one black man. Another superstar a great friend and a great lawyer. Oh, Lord, they’re going to be mad when I call them out on this nonsense.“
Watch Willis’ speech here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video