Trump joins motion seeking to disqualify DA Fani Willis, dismiss Georgia election charges
The motion claims Willis had an improper relationship with her top prosecutor.
Attorneys representing former President Donald Trump have moved to join a motion filed by co-defendant Mike Roman in the Georgia election interference case that seeks to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and dismiss the criminal charges based on allegations of an improper relationship, according to a court filing Thursday.
Trump's defense team has endorsed claims made by Roman, which include that Willis had an inappropriate relationship with a special prosecutor she hired for the case, Nathan Wade, which allegedly resulted in financial gain for both of them.
"President Trump moves the Court to adopt and supplement the above-titled motion filed by co-defendant Roman on January 8, 2024, which alleged, among other misconduct, that an improper intimate personal relationship existed between Special Prosecutor Wade and District Attorney (DA) Willis, that Wade has been paid over $650,000 by the DA, and that taxpayer monies were used by Wade to take the DA on lavish vacations," the former president's team wrote in the filing.
Trump's team also lodged new allegations against Willis, criticizing the Fulton County DA for a speech she gave at Big Bethel AME Church after the allegations where made public, claiming in the filing that Willis "inappropriately injected race into the case and stoked racial animus" during a speech responding to Roman's allegations.
"I appointed three special counselors," Willis said in her remarks at the church last week. "It's my right to do. Paid them all the same hourly rate. They only attack one. I hired one white woman: a good personal friend and great lawyer, a superstar, I tell you. I hired one white man: brilliant, my friend, and a great lawyer. And I hired one Black man, another superstar, a great friend, and a great lawyer."
"DA Willis gave a keynote speech at Atlanta’s historic Black church, Big Bethel AME Church, a speech wherein, without mentioning the alleged affair or even trying to put her alleged malfeasance in context, she repeatedly and inappropriately injected race into the case and stoked racial animus by, among other statements, asking God why the defendants were questioning her conduct in hiring a Black man but not his White counterparts, and why the judgment of a Black female Democrat wasn’t as good as White male Republicans," Trump's team said in the filing.
A spokesperson for the DA's office declined to comment on the filing.
Trump is the first co-defendant to join Roman's effort to dismiss the charges based on the allegations against Willis.
An evidentiary hearing on the motion is set for Feb. 15 in Atlanta.
Trump, Roman, and 17 others pleaded not guilty in August to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia. Defendants Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis and Scott Hall subsequently took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.
The former president has criticized the district attorney's investigation as being politically motivated.
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