Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is under scrutiny by a Georgia state Senate committee about her relationship with the lead prosecutor in the 2020 election subversion case against Donald Trump and 19 others. File Photo by Dennis Byron/EPA-EFE
March 6 (UPI) -- A defense attorney in the Georgia election subversion case against Donald Trump testified Wednesday before a state Senate committee probing misconduct allegations against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Ashleigh Merchant, who represents Trump co-defendant Michael Roman, argued that Willis' romantic relationship with lead prosecutor Nathan Wade is improper due to financial benefits. She was the only person to testify. Willis and Wade were not in attendance.
Merchant also said a speech Willis made in an Atlanta church on Martin Luther King Jr. Day casting the former president and 19 other defendants as guilty was inappropriate conduct for a prosecutor.
"She's made a number of public statements condemning their guilt, which is not allowed," Merchant said.
Merchant did not face much pushback from the committee initially, with Republican Sen. Bill Cowsert, who is leading the hearing, often finishing her sentences.
"We heard a lot of the allegations and you made most of them," Cowsert chuckled. "There's some public outrage or uproar about some of the alleged improprieties you brought forward within the system, what is appropriate conduct. We're tasked with investigating and finding the true facts and not just taking the press at face value."
Cowsert said the committee is attempting to independently verify the allegations against Willis. It is also tasked with amending existing laws or creating new ones to "restore public faith in our criminal justice system."
"We wonder if we need statutory authority or statutory limitations," Cowsert said.
Merchant's motion seeks to have the DA's office removed from the elections case. Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said in a summary hearing last week that he hopes to make a decision within two weeks.
Merchant and other defense attorneys sought to prove that Willis and Wade lied on the record about when their relationship began. Specifically, they claim that the relationship began before November 2021, when Wade was named lead prosecutor.
Willis and Wade testified separately that their relationship began in the spring of 2022. The relationship ended last summer.
The attorneys claim that Willis benefited financially due to trips that she and Wade took together. Willis and Wade testified that they roughly split expenses on these trips. They added that Willis often paid in cash.
The defense has also called into question why Willis and Wade would keep their relationship a secret. Willis' father, John Floyd III, said it would not be uncommon for Willis not to share that she is dating someone.
Wade's former law partner Terrence Bradley testified after a long back-and-forth over attorney-client privilege. Bradley represented Wade during his divorce proceedings. Bradley did not confirm the defense's claims that Willis and Wade began dating earlier than they said they had. Instead, he said that he only speculated about when their relationship began.
In Wednesday's hearing, Democrats on the committee challenged Merchant's claims that Willis had a conflict. Sen. Harold Jones II questioned the logic of the claim that Willis brought the indictment against Trump and 19 others and hired Wade for a financial benefit.
"So your argument is that a person who makes $200,000 a year is actually setting up prosecutions to go on a trip that costs $3,500?" Jones asked.
Merchant said the issue is that the relationship violates county statutes and that a contract would not have been entered into with Wade if Willis disclosed the relationship beforehand.
The hearing ended at about 12:40 p.m. EST after more than three hours.
Willis will be the subject of another hearing on Thursday. The Fulton County Ethics Board is holding a special meeting to discuss two complaints against her.
