- The Washington Times - Thursday, February 8, 2024

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has filed a second ethics complaint against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, claiming she failed to disclose vacations she took with a prosecutor involved in the state’s election challenge case.

The four-page complaint was filed Tuesday with the Georgia State Ethics Commission. In the filing, Ms. Greene said Ms. Willis violated the state’s campaign finance and ethics rules by failing to file personal financial disclosure statements.

“Fani Willis’ failure to disclose luxury vacations allegedly paid for by her secret boyfriend using taxpayer money is a scandal of epic proportions,” the Georgia Republican wrote on X Thursday.

Ms. Greene said the failure to disclose the information was “intentional or [demonstrating] at least a wanton disregard for her duties and the law.”

In a motion filed last month, Trump co-defendant Michael Roman alleged that Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade, a private attorney and married father of two, paid for luxury vacations he took with Ms. Willis by using money that his law firm received from Fulton County.

According to the documents, Mr. Wade’s firm has received nearly $654,000 in legal fees since January 2023 for the election challenge case.

“Fani Willis’ alleged failures to disclose these suspicious relationships and transactions must be fully investigated and, if proven true, punished in order to vindicate these rights and restore Georgians’ confidence in the intentions of their leaders,” the filing said.

Last month, Ms. Greene filed a first complaint against the district attorney, calling for a criminal investigation into her relationship with Mr. Wade.

In a filing Friday, Ms. Willis admitted to the relationship with Mr. Wade but said it didn’t harm former President Donald Trump or his co-defendants.

“To be absolutely clear, the personal relationship between Special Prosecutor Wade and District Attorney Willis has never involved direct or indirect financial benefit to District Attorney Willis,” she wrote.

She called the allegations “salacious” and just a ploy to grab attention from the media. The filing also said there was no personal relationship between her and Mr. Wade at the time of his appointment in November 2021 and that case law in Georgia doesn’t call for disqualification.

“The existence of a relationship between members of a prosecution team, in and of itself, is simply not a status that entitles a criminal defendant any remedy. Georgia courts have held as much for decades, in both civil and criminal contexts,” she wrote. “Personal relationships among lawyers – even on opposing sides of litigation – do not constitute impermissible conflicts of interest.”

Ms. Greene, Mr. Trump and others want to disqualify Ms. Willis from the case in hopes that it will be dropped.

The former president and his 18 co-defendants were indicted in August for their efforts to overturn the 2020 election that Mr. Trump says was rigged. The lead GOP candidate in the 2024 presidential race was charged with multiple felonies, including a violation of the state’s racketeering law, conspiracy to commit forgery, false statements and writings, and filing false documents.

The Washington Times has reached out to the district attorney’s office for comment.

• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.

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