Among the evidence against Fulton County DA Fani Willis that looks the most damning is that her alleged lover, Nathan Wade, was revealed in bank statements to have purchased a plane ticket purchased in her name. That evidence is made all the more suspect and problematic by the fact that, according to a recent report from the daily Caller News Foundation, she did not disclose the gift of the ticket.
As background, Nathan Wade is both an alleged lover of DA Fani Willis and is one of the three special prosecutors she appointed to handle her RICO case against former President Donald Trump and 18 members of his 2020 campaign and legal teams. Bank statements from Wade appear to show that he paid for plane tickets to both Miami and San Francisco in the name of DA Willis.
Now, the Daily Caller News Foundation reports that a 2022 disclosure form from DA Willis shows that she did not disclose the plane ticket Wade purchased for her that year. That is a problem because she must file an annual Income and Financial Disclosure Report that requires, among other information, the disclosure of a gift or favor worth more than $100 from a “prohibited source,” which includes anyone “doing business with the county.”
The ticket at issue is the ticket to Miami, which cost $477 and was purchased by Wade in Willis’ name on October 4 of 2022. Wade also, on that day, made two payments to the Royal Caribbean cruise line: one was $1,387 and the other $1,284. That is a problem for DA Willis because Mr. Wade’s contract with her office began on November 1, 2021, well before the ticket was bought in her name by him.
Commenting to the Daily Caller News Foundation on the issue with the ticket, Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer for the George W. Bush Administration, said that her failure to disclose the ticket needs to be investigated by the Georgia ethics authority. “The bottom line is, that’s why we have these forms,” Mr. Painter said.
Continuing, he added that the forms are meant to expose and prevent “exactly these kinds of conflicts of interest.” Mr. Painter, continuing, noted that DA Willis needs to explain why the nearly $500 ticket was not included on the form, given Wade’s work with the county and her relationship with him. “She needs to give an explanation as to why it wasn’t on the form,” he said.
What’s more, the non-inclusion of the ticket looks like an “intentional violation” of the ethics rules, which means that in addition to a $1,000 fine, public reprimand, and administrative sanction, DA Willis could face criminal liability over the matter. Such is what Courtney Kramer, former White House Council for former President Donald Trump, told the daily Caller News Foundation.
According to Kramer, “If she’s found to have intentionally lied on those forms, that’s not just an ethics violation.” Continuing, she said that in addition to the monetary penalties DA Willis faces, there is the “potential for criminal liability.”
Another lawyer, explaining the ethics rules and the problem with the ticket to the DCNF, said, “This ethics rule is designed to prevent kickbacks. In my view, it is extremely reckless for an elected official to engage in any kind of nepotism but it is especially reckless if such official is personally enriched by virtue of nepotism.”
And it’s not just lawyers and politicians who are furious over what DA Willis is alleged to have done. One furious Fulton County resident recently appeared at a local government meeting to demand a full investigation into DA Willis and her alleged corruption. Watch him here:
Featured image credit: Fani for DA Campaign website
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