Georgia prosecutor resists attempt to remove her from Trump election interference case

The Georgia prosecutor trying Donald Trump for attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat acknowledged having a relationship with another lawyer on the case but rejected an effort by the former US president to have her removed from the case.

Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis in a court filing said claims that have threatened to upend her office’s historic prosecution had “no merit”.

“While the allegations raised in the various motions are salacious and garnered the media attention they were designed to obtain, none provide this court with any basis upon which to order the relief they seek,” Ms Willis said in the filing, which had been reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Mr Trump and two co-defendants are seeking to disqualify Ms Willis and dismiss the charges, alleging Ms Willis benefited financially from an “improper, clandestine personal relationship” with Nathan Wade, a lawyer she hired to help lead the investigation.

Putin praises Xi Jinping’s proposals for ending war in Ukraine ahead of two-day visit to China

---

Even David Attenborough couldn’t save the Tories now

---

‘We’re police – it’s simply our job’: Ukraine’s ‘White Angels’ help people flee Russia’s advance

---

‘The house fell down on their heads’: Gazan falafel seller in southwest London with a tale to tell

---

The case is one of four criminal prosecutions Mr Trump faces as he closes in on the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic president Joe Biden in November’s election. Mr Trump has launched multiple challenges to these cases that could delay the start of any trial by weeks or months.

Citing unnamed sources and previously sealed court records, Trump co-defendant Michael Roman alleged in a court filing that Mr Wade paid for vacations with Ms Willis while he was being compensated by her office for work on the investigation.

Mr Trump and his co-defendants accused Ms Willis of a conflict of interest and suggested her relationship with Mr Wade may run afoul of state ethics rules and US law.

Records released as part of Mr Wade’s divorce case show he paid for airline flights with Ms Willis on at least two occasions during the investigation.

Mr Trump’s legal team endorsed Mr Roman’s allegations and said Ms Willis “inappropriately injected race into the case” during a speech responding to Mr Roman’s allegations.

Ms Willis said during the speech that she hired three special counsels for the election interference investigation and noted that only Mr Wade, who like her is black, had come under scrutiny.

In Georgia, Mr Trump and 14 of his political allies are facing racketeering and other charges in a sweeping indictment accusing them of conspiring to reverse his narrow 2020 defeat in the state. Four defendants originally charged in the case have pleaded guilty after striking deals with prosecutors. Fulton County superior court judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the case, has scheduled a February 15th hearing focused on the allegations. – Reuters

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024