Trump co-defendant accuses Fulton County district attorney of misconduct – Atlanta News First
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – A co-defendant in former President Donald Trump’s election interference case in Georgia is alleging that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a top prosecutor working on the case.
In a new court filing obtained by Atlanta News First, Michael Roman and his attorney Ashleigh Merchant accuse Willis of having a “personal, romantic relationship” with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Roman, a former Trump campaign staffer and a co-defendant in Trump’s RICO case, also claims Willis and Wade benefited financially from the alleged relationship.
The court filing claims Willis and Wade took lavish vacations together and that Wade used part of his salary from the district attorney’s office to travel with Willis.
Roman’s attorney claims to have discovered “outside of court filings” that Willis and Wade went on trips together.
The court document goes on to claim the relationship began before Wade was appointed to the case. Roman and his attorney claim Willis also failed to get county approval to appoint Wade as special prosecutor.
Roman’s attorney is now asking the court to disqualify both Willis and Wade from prosecuting the RICO case and to drop all the charges against Roman.
Requests for comments from Merchant were not immediately returned. Willis’ office said it will be responding to Roman’s motion through proper court filings.
On Monday, Trump’s Georgia attorneys filed four new motions in their battle against Willis’ massive, historic organized crime-related indictments of the nation’s 45th chief executive.
The motions filed Monday morning in Fulton County Superior Court by attorney Steve Sadow include a motion to dismiss Willis’ charges based on the judicial notion of double jeopardy; a motion arguing Trump has “absolute immunity” from prosecution for actions taken while serving as president; and a motion to dismiss the charges based on administrative procedures.
Trump is charged alongside others — including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows — with violating the state’s anti-racketeering law by scheming to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss.
Willis’ indictments, handed down in August 2023, accuses Trump and his allies of suggesting Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, could find enough votes for him to win the battleground state; harassing an election worker who faced false claims of fraud; and attempting to persuade Georgia lawmakers to ignore the will of voters and appoint a new slate of electors favorable to Trump.
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