One of Donald Trump’s co-defendants in his Georgia election interference case has alleged that Fani Willis – the district attorney leading the proceeding – has been “engaged in a personal, romantic relationship” with one of the top prosecutors she brought in for the case.
In a court filing seeking to have charges against him dismissed, an attorney for Michael Roman – an ex-staffer of the former president – has accused Willis of intentionally failing to disclose a relationship with the prosecutor, Nathan Wade, and personally benefiting from his appointment to the case.
The filing offers no evidence of the relationship, instead stating “sources close to both the special prosecutor and the district attorney have confirmed they had an ongoing, personal relationship”. It alleges that the supposed couple have used legal fees from the case to fund trips to Florida, Napa Valley and a cruise to the Caribbean.
“Willis has benefited substantially and directly, and continues to benefit, from this litigation because Wade is being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to prosecute this case on her behalf,” the filing states.
Willis, the district attorney for Fulton county in Georgia, has not responded to the claims, with a spokesperson telling media outlets she will do so through court filings.
Roman worked as director of election day operations for Trump’s campaign in 2020 and has been charged with seven felony counts in Fulton county, largely for allegedly helping organize slates of Trump electors in states won by Joe Biden.
There are a total of 18 co-defendants alongside Trump in the Georgia case, which centers upon his efforts to overturn Biden’s victory in 2020, when Biden also won the electoral college vote. Trump is accused of calling Georgia’s secretary of state to urge him to “find” more votes for him in order to make it appear that he won the state.
The scandal-ridden, twice-impeached Trump faces 13 charges in Georgia over his efforts to subvert voting there, on top of separate state and federal charges over his handling of classified documents, attempts to overturn the election and hush-money payments.
On Monday, Trump – who is still the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for this year’s presidential election – urged a county judge in Georgia to throw out the case against him, claiming that he is immune from prosecution.
Trump’s lawyer, Steve Sadow, argued in a court filing the former president’s actions in trying to sway the election were part of his duties as president and therefore cannot be prosecuted.
“The indictment is based entirely on alleged actions that lie at the heartland of the president’s official duties,” he wrote. “The current Fulton county, Georgia, indictment of President Trump threatens to open the floodgates of politically motivated criminal prosecutions of virtually every future president.”
