(NationalUSNews.com) — In the ongoing Georgia case regarding interference in the 2020 presidential election, one of the 19 defendants, Michael Roman, filed a motion to dismiss the case, alleging that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and an outside special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, whom she hired to work on the case, have been involved in a romantic relationship, which could constitute an undisclosed conflict of interest. There have been suggestions that Willis has benefited financially in the form of vacations she allegedly took with Wade. Many see this as a way to pay oneself with money spent on a prosecutor.
The judge in the case, Scott McAfee, has ordered Willis to make a response to the allegations by Feb. 2. He has also scheduled a hearing for the accusations for Feb. 15. For her part, Willis has not publicly denied such a relationship with Wade. However, at a celebration for Martin Luther King Jr. at the Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sunday, January 14, she made a speech in which she repeatedly said she was “flawed” and “imperfect,” which has given strength to public opinion that Roman’s accusations are true.
However, public opinion is not the final say on legal matters. On its face, a romantic relationship between Willis and Wade would not necessarily prove a conflict of interest, although it could be used as a springboard to make such a case. To that end, Roman’s legal team filed a motion to unseal records of Wade’s divorce, which they say may prove their allegations correct. That motion was granted on Monday, January 22, by Cobb County Superior Court Judge Henry Thompson.
While some are concerned that this scandal could derail the case against former President Trump and his co-defendants, for Willis, it could mean public reprimands and monetary sanctions from the Fulton County Board of Ethics. She does have the option to recuse herself, but that may also harm the case, and she has not indicated any intention of doing so. Willis has also made public statements about receiving hate mail, threats, and racist commentary in relation to her work on the case. In her speech at the Big Bethel Church, she suggested that she and Wade were singled out for attack in this way because they are not white. One of Roman’s attorneys, Ashleigh Merchant, has responded by saying that their motion had nothing to do with race.
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