Fani Willis sat in a Fulton County courtroom Friday as defense attorneys tried to convince a judge to expel her from the Donald Trump case over her affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Trump's co-defendants have called for Willis to be dismissed from the case over allegations that she hired her prosecutor, Nathan Wade, after she began dating him.
The first to appear in court on Friday after a series of blockbuster televised hearings was John Merchant, the husband and law partner of Ashleigh Merchant, who was the first to make explosive allegations about the prosecution affair.
“If this court allows such behavior to occur, the public's entire trust in the system will be undermined.” “The integrity of the system will be undermined,” Merchant said.
He said a team of defense attorneys would be able to show “an appearance of conflict” in the case, and he said that alone is enough under state law.
Adam Abbate, representing Willis, argued that the judge must rely on finding a “factual conflict” — a higher standard.
Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis appeared in court as prosecutors urged a judge not to exclude her from the trial
Fani Willis' future in prosecuting Donald Trump in the Georgia election case hangs in the balance as lawyers prepare to make their closing arguments in her disqualification hearing
Merchant also raised the prospect of a mistrial, which could lead to a second, time-consuming trial in a sprawling case involving Trump and 18 co-defendants.
If the decision is overturned, “we would get a new trial,” he said. “That means we have to do this again.”
He described some of the details revealed in stunning evidentiary hearings about Willis having “a prosecutorial relationship with her boyfriend.” He referred to a famous statement by Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart in the obscenity case.
“I think you know it when you see it,” he said, suggesting there was a conflict of interest in the case. Merchant said Wade and Willis were unable to pay the $9,247 in charges after Willis testified that she frequently used cash and kept large amounts in her home.
Willis filed charges against Trump and 18 co-defendants in connection with Trump's efforts to overturn the state's election
Attorney John Merchant noted that the entire case would have to be retried without a finding of conflict
Attorney Craig Gillen, who represents co-defendant David Shafer, criticized Willis for playing the “race card.”
Fulton County Chief Judge Scott McAfee indicated he may have enough evidence to rule on the motion
Steven Sadow, representing Trump, said both Wade and Willis were not telling the truth when they testified that their relationship only began after Wade joined their team of prosecutors.
He said the statement raised “genuine concern about its truthfulness, as it corresponds to what is required of a lawyer in this State, which is candor before the tribunal.”
Craig Gillen, an attorney for another co-defendant, accused Willis of doing something “reprehensible” in her speech at an Atlanta church at a Sunday service honoring Martin Luther King Jr. after the affair allegations first surfaced in a court filing.
“She decided to pull out the race card and the God card.” “That's what she did,” Gillen said.
The lawyers appeared in court Friday after text messages between Wade's divorce lawyer Terrence Bradley and an attorney for one of Donald Trump's co-defendants contained damning information about Wade's affair with Willis.
Bradley, Wade's former divorce attorney and law partner, took the witness stand Tuesday where he was shown a series of text messages in which he discussed the history of Willis and Wade's relationship – one of the central themes of the trial.
Michael Roman and other co-defendants in Trump's case are calling for the disqualification of District Attorney Fanni Willis, 53, over what they say is an “inappropriate” relationship.
Attorney Richard Rice cited evidence of communications between the two. “I don’t even think teenagers in love communicate that much,” he said, comparing their trips to the Caribbean and Napa Valley to “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.”
Fulton County Chief Judge Scott McAfee indicated he may have enough evidence to rule on the motion for disqualification.
“I think we are at a point where I would like to hear more about how the legal arguments relate to what has already been put forward and it might already be possible for me to make a decision without that “This must be an essential decision,” he said at the start of the hearing.
Representing Willis, Abbate pointed to dismissing cases in which prosecutors were embarrassed, including a case in which prosecutors had a personal financial connection to the outcome of a case due to a contingency fee.
“We have absolutely no evidence that Ms. Willis derived any financial gain or benefit from the case,” he said.
He also cited examples where a prosecutor had a personal interest in the case, such as by prosecuting or representing a defendant in the past.
Only when there is an actual conflict of interest and “forensic misconduct” are there reasons to disqualify a prosecutor, he said.
He called the disqualification a “last-ditch effort” and said that “every effort should be made in lieu of disqualification unless there is an actual conflict.”