Expert: Trump co-defendant’s filing accusing Fani Willis of “improper relationship” could upend case

An attorney for Michael Roman, one of Donald Trump's co-defendants in the Fulton County election interference trial, claimed that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is engaged in an improper “romantic relationship” with one of the lead prosecutors handling the case and was “profiting significantly from this prosecution at the expense of the taxpayers.”

The filing, which doesn’t point to any direct evidence supporting these claims, instead relies on “sources close to both the special prosecutor and the district attorney” who confirmed the pair had a “personal relationship.”

The motion, filed on behalf of the former Trump campaign official, seeks to have the charges against him dismissed, claiming that they were invalid and unconstitutional. It also seeks the

disqualification of Willis, the special prosecutor, and the entire D.A.'s office from further prosecution of the case, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. 

The filing claims that Nathan Wade, a private attorney that Willis brought on to the case, financed extravagant vacations with Willis using funds his law firm received from Fulton County. Without citing any evidence, it says Wade paid for them to travel personally together to places like Napa Valley, Florida and the Caribbean. The special prosecutor also “purchased tickets” for them to travel on both the Norweigan and Royal Caribbean cruise lines.

Ashleigh Merchant, the lawyer representing Roman, said that she examined the case file in Wade's ongoing divorce proceedings and made copies of specific documents. However, the motion asserts that the case file was later improperly sealed due to the absence of a court hearing, as mandated by law. Since the case remains under seal, Merchant said she is not sharing the information she obtained from the divorce file until the seal is lifted, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The filing's serious allegations raise questions about their potential impact on Trump and the other 14 co-defendants in the case.

“I don’t think that the romantic partnership creates any constitutional questions about the case, or is likely to lead to outright dismissal of the indictment,” Atlanta defense attorney Andrew Fleischman told Salon. 

Fulton's major concern is the potential discovery of a conflict of interest by the trial court, leading to the disqualification of the entire Fulton County office, Fleischman explained. If that happens, it will be up to the prosecuting attorneys' council of Georgia to pick a replacement, a process that is expected to take “serious time.”

“Even leaving aside the politics of the situation, there are not many district attorneys who want to take on a year-long trial with 15 codefendants,” he continued. “If Willis is [disqualified,] that would spell the end of attempts to convict Trump before the next election.”

The filing accuses Willis of intentionally failing “to disclose her conflict of interest” to Fulton County and the court. This coupled with her selection of the special prosecutor driven by personal motives “may well be an act to defraud the public of honest services since the district attorney ‘personally benefitted from an undisclosed conflict of interest’ which is a crime under 18 U.S.C. § 1346 as well as a predicate act which could result in a RICO charge against both the district attorney and the special prosecutor,” Merchant wrote.

However, Fleischman argued that in the “absence of concrete proof,” the claims aren’t significant at all. “Stuff we write in legal filings isn’t evidence.”

But the filing lays out some “interesting circumstantial” evidence, he explained, including Wade’s qualifications for the job and how much he’s been paid.

County records reveal that Wade has been paid nearly $654,000 in legal fees since January 2022 and the district attorney is in charge of authorizing his compensation.

It also “dangles” the possibility that the sealed Cobb divorce filings (which trial counsel has read) will support claims of a romantic relationship, Fleischman said.

“If Roman’s lawyer has actual evidence of an improper relationship between Willis and Wade, it was incumbent on her to make that part of her motion, such as by attaching sworn affidavits from witnesses with personal knowledge or authenticated documents,” Clark Cunningham, a law and ethics professor at Georgia State University, told The New York Times. 

He further expanded on X/Twitter indicating that the motion “repeatedly asserts ‘improper relationship’” as factual yet it relies on sources that are either anonymous or undisclosed.

Anthony Michael Kreis, a Georgia State University law professor, wrote on X that while this is “certainly a political problem,” if true, he doesn’t see how any of this violates Roman’s constitutional rights. But to be clear, there is “no hard evidence” that backs up these claims, he added.

“Judge McBurney rejected a similar claim about ADA Wade’s oath finding that Wade did not prejudice the process leading up to the Fulton County indictments,” Kreis wrote. “So, too, Judge McAfee will likely rule here.”

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Aside from both the legal and ethical implications of their conduct, Wade and Willis’ conduct also “undermines the sanctity of the criminal justice system, erodes public trust in our judicial system, and would place them above the law,” Merchant wrote in the filing. 

Allowing such conduct to go "unchecked" by a powerful, public, elected official "threatens to undermine the very principles of democracy" that the district attorney herself claims to defend in this prosecution, she said. 

In August, Roman, Trump, and 17 co-defendants pleaded not guilty to a comprehensive racketeering indictment, for their alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia. However, four defendants opted for plea deals, agreeing to testify against their fellow defendants.

“If the claims in the filing are true, then Fulton County will be disqualified from pursuing the case, and it’s not clear that anyone will step up to take their place,” Fleischman said. “The District Attorney could be impeached by the George House of Representatives, or they could rewrite their prosecutor accountability law to target her. She could be charged with state or federal crimes for misusing public funds. It would delegitimize and delay her case in serious ways.”