More bad news for Fani Willis: Disqualification is back on the menu and state investigators are drilling deep



Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is not only running for re-election but ostensibly running away from accountability over her various alleged improprieties. If the last several days have provided any indication, then Willis may be headed for a stumble.

Friday

"This is really messing up my business," said Willis.

The Georgia Senate Special Committee that was approved in January to investigate allegations of misconduct on Willis' part began drilling deeper Friday into the Democrat's use of taxpayer funds. The Washington Examiner indicated that there were various signs in the over four-hour hearing that lawmakers are determined to fully understand the Fulton County District Attorney Office's expenditures and prosecution of Trump.

This penetrating scrutiny appears to have struck a nerve with Willis, who told local news, "Isn't it interesting when we got a bunch of African American DAs, now we need a daddy to tell us what to do?"

"This is really messing up my business," continued Willis. "They can look all they want."

The committee appears keen to shift from looking to listening.

Republican state Sen. Bill Cowswet told WSB-TV that the special committee will subpoena the Democratic DA should she fail to appear voluntarily and explain herself.

Monday

On Monday, Willis indicated that — just as she didn't bother to show up to debate her political opponent last month — she may similarly attempt to ghost the state Senate committee.

"First of all, I don't even think they have the authority to subpoena me," said Willis. "But they need to learn the law."

Willis added, "I will not appear to anything that is unlawful, and I have not broken the law in any way. I’ve said it, you know, I’ll say it amongst these leaders, I’m sorry folks get pissed off that everybody gets treated equally."

Wednesday

On Wednesday, the Court of Appeals for the State of Georgia put the possibility of Willis' disqualification from former President Donald Trump's election interference case back on the table.

Willis, who has described herself as the "face of the feminist movement," has been scrutinized for months over accusations of "systematic misconduct" and various other improprieties.

Blaze News previously reported that Ashleigh Merchant, an attorney for Trump co-defendant Michael Roman, filed a Jan. 8 motion to disqualify, claiming Willis was ethically compromised by her "improper, clandestine personal relationship" with Nathan Wade.

Willis hired Wade the day after he filed for divorce from his wife. Contrary to the DA's suggestion in court, their romantic relationship allegedly preceded the appointment by at least several months.

In the months that followed, Willis was targeted with additional disqualification motions accusing her of prejudicing potential jurors with racially charged commentary, conflict of interest, misusing public monies, coordinating with the Biden White House, giving Wade preferential treatment, and of possibly running afoul of the federal racketeering statute.

The effort to oust Willis from the case came to a head on March 15 when Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, also running for re-election, ruled that the Democrat could continue overseeing the case so long as Wade resigned his post as special prosecutor.

Wade bowed out, but the defense was not satisfied — particularly since the judge acknowledged Willis' "unprofessional manner" during the evidentiary hearing, her "bad choices," her "tremendous lapse in judgment," her "legally improper" remarks, and the prosecutions encumbrance "by an appearance of impropriety."

McAfee permitted Trump and several of his co-defendants to appeal his ruling, which they did in late March.

The appeals court granted Trump's application for interlocutory appeal this week, meaning it will take up McAfee's ruling — a move the Associated Press suggested will likely delay Trump's case beyond the November election. After all, whoever loses the case could ask the Georgia Supreme Court to decide Willis' fate.

Professor Ryan Goodman, former special counsel to the general counsel of the Pentagon, alternatively suggested that the revitalized disqualification battle "might not delay matters," citing McAfee's suggestion in his order granting the petition that the "Court intends to continue addressing the many other unrelated pending pretrial motions, regardless of whether the petition is granted."

Unless Trump requests and gets a stay, the Georgia appeals court considering his effort to disqualify DA Fani Willis might not delay matters.\n\nTrial Judge McAfee in his order granting petition to appeal: "The Court intends to continue addressing the many other unrelated pending\u2026
— (@)

Thursday

The U.S. House Judiciary Committee appears to also be closing in on Willis. Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) launched an inquiry into the alleged collusion between Willis and the Jan. 6 Committee in December 2023.

On Thursday, Jordan asked Nathan Wade to appear for an interview and to produce various documents pertaining to his former employment with the Fulton County District Attorney's Office.

"There are serious concerns about your role in the politically motivated prosecution initiated by Ms. Willis against President Donald J. Trump. You have reportedly 'profit[ed] significantly' from M. Willis's prosecution, with unsealed court filings alleging that you have been paid 'almost seven hundred thousand dollars ($700,000) [from the FCDAO] since May of 2022 alone,'" Jordan noted in his letter to Wade.

"The committee understands that Ms. Willis reportedly compensated you and financed her politically motivated prosecution using a mixture of taxpayer funds, possibly including part of the $14.6 million in federal grant funds that her office received from the Department of Justice between 2020 and 2023," added Jordan.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution indicated that Wade's attorney could not be reached for comment but that he previously claimed he had done nothing wrong.

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Fani Willis desperately lashes out at her alleged lover's wife, accusing her of 'obstructing' Trump prosecution



Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' election interference case against former President Donald Trump in Georgia appears to be fast degenerating.

In an apparent act of desperation this week, the Black Panther's daughter lashed out at her alleged lover's wife, Joycelyn Wade. The Democrat's lawyers accused Joycelyn Wade in a Thursday court filing of "obstructing" the controversial case against the Republican front-runner and attempting to damage Willis' reputation.

What's the background?

Troubles began to mount for Willis on Jan. 8 when a court motion to disqualify her, filed on behalf of one of Trump's co-defendants, called Willis out for alleged misconduct and possible criminality. It also provided indications there may have been possible coordination between the Biden White House and the Fulton County DA's Office on the case.

The motion specifically accused the Democratic DA of both being embroiled in "an improper, clandestine personal relationship" with Nathan Wade — a married attorney whom she ultimately hired to spearhead the prosecution against Trump in his election interference case — and of "profiting significantly from this prosecution at the expense of taxpayers."

The filing alleged that Wade used Fulton County funds received by his law firm to pay for luxurious international and domestic vacations he supposedly took with Willis.

Willis has not yet explicitly denied the core allegations in the filing, although she did claim before God and an audience of churchgoers Sunday that she had not given preferential treatment to Wade — a claim that does not appear to be entirely true.

Willis' lawyer Andrea Hastings reiterated to the Associated Press this week that any response to the motion will come in a filing with the court, which has yet to happen.

Ashleigh Merchant, the lawyer who filed the motion on behalf of Michael Roman, insinuated there were additional documents of interest in the case file for Wade's divorce proceedings, but she would wait to share the information until a judge unsealed it.

The New York Times reported a hearing concerning the unsealing of the divorce files is set for Jan. 31.

Rising heat

A process server dispatched by Joycelyn Wade, the Trump prosecutor's estranged wife, reportedly showed up at Willis' Atlanta office on Jan. 8 with a subpoena. The subpoena requested that Willis testify at a deposition on Jan. 23 in Nathan Wade's Cobb County divorce case.

The allegations in the motion to disqualify might be of interest in the acrimonious divorce proceedings. After all, Nathan Wade — reportedly paid over $650,000 in legal fees since January 2022 — allegedly began his affair with Willis prior to his appointment as special prosecutor on the Trump case, according to the filing. Wade reportedly did not file for divorce until the day after he entered his contract with the Fulton County DA's Office.

The Jan. 23 deposition is hardly Willis' only problem.

On Thursday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee scheduled a Feb. 15 hearing to take up the damning accusations of misconduct leveled against Willis, ordering her to respond to the allegations in writing by Feb. 2.

Lashing out at her alleged lover's wife

The Associated Press reported that a lawyer for Willis claimed in a filing Thursday that the subpoena served to Willis' office last week amounted to "an attempt to harass and damage" the Democrat's reputation.

The filing further alleged that Joycelyn Wade "conspired with interested parties in the criminal Election Interference Case to use the civil discovery process to annoy, embarrass, and oppress" Willis.

This is not the first time in recent days Willis has painted herself as the victim.

Blaze News previously reported that during her Sunday address to a congregation at Big Bethel AME Church in Atlanta, Willis characterized concerns over possible impropriety on her part as the product of racial animus and painted herself as a headstrong warrior selected for greatness by God.

"[God,] you did not tell me as a woman of color it would not matter what I did. My motive, my talent, my ability, and my character would be constantly attacked," said Willis. "You cannot expect black women to be perfect and save the world. We need to be allowed to stumble."

Cinque Axam, a lawyer for Willis, suggested in the Thursday filing that attempts to question Willis over her alleged improprieties were "obstructing and interfering" with the Trump case.

Merchant said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press, "Ms. Willis alleges that her deposition is being sought in an attempt to harass and damage her professional reputation. Why would her truthful testimony risk damaging her reputation?"

Merchant further suggested the Democratic DA was trying "to create a conspiracy where none exists," adding that she had filed the motion on the deadline for pretrial motions in the election interference case.

"We believe her filing in Cobb County is just another attempt to avoid having to directly answer the important questions Mr. Roman has raised," wrote Merchant.

In addition to vilifying Mrs. Wade, Willis intimated in an email exchange this week that at least one of the defense lawyers in the Georgia election interference case was a racist, writing, "Some people will never be able to respect African Americans."

The lead lawyer for Trump in Georgia, Steven Sadow, had pressed Willis' team after they failed to respond to his emails. Daysha Young, an executive district attorney in Willis' office, responded, suggesting that she and Willis "are both aware, especially as an African American woman some find it difficult to treat us respectfully," reported the Times.

Willis jumped in, writing, "In the legal community (and the world at large) some people will never be able to respect African Americans and/or women as their equal and counterpart."

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