Fani Willis, the prosecutor overseeing the election interference case against Donald Trump in Georgia, on Thursday denied claims by lawyers that her affair with a colleague constituted a financial conflict of interest.
Willis has repeatedly accused attorney Mike Roman, Trump’s co-defendant, of lying in her statements to the court, implying that Willis was living with a colleague. Fani Willis who holds the position of Fulton County District Attorney stated:
You’re confused… You think I’m on trial. These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020.
Willis called the allegation in court documents that the two lived together “another one of your lies.” She took the position after her fellow prosecutor and former romantic partner Nathan Wade denied the allegations of financial misconduct.
Trump and some of his co-defendants have argued that Willis should be dismissed from the indictment because of her relationship with Wade, who they claim paid for joint trips while Wade was paid by Willis’ office.
The Georgia case is one of four criminal prosecutions Trump faces as he approaches his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in November’s election. Trump himself was in New York on Thursday, where a judge has scheduled a trial to begin on 25 March on charges related to a hush money payment to an adult film actress.
On Thursday, Wade denied allegations that Willis benefited financially from the relationship, giving her an impetus to prolong the prosecution.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has scheduled a hearing, set to continue Friday, to determine whether Willis’ office should be recused from prosecuting the election case. That would put the future of the prosecution in doubt. Willis’s office has criticised the disqualification attempt as a publicity stunt based on “fantastical theories and rank speculation.”
The allegations sparked Willis’s historic prosecution of Trump and 14 allies who pleaded not guilty to charges of forming a criminal conspiracy to undo Trump’s defeat in Georgia in 2020.
Trump has long portrayed the prosecutions in Georgia and others he faces as politically motivated attempts to prevent him from returning to power.
His lawyers are working to delay the various prosecutions he faces. If elected, he could order the dismissal of two federal prosecutions or pardon himself for any federal convictions, stating that as president he should not be subject to state prosecutions such as the Georgia case.
