Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis faces a subpoena to testify in the divorce case of a prosecutor she enlisted to assist her in the election-subversion investigation against former President Donald Trump and his allies, a hiring that raised allegations of an improper relationship and could unravel the sprawling case.
A process server left the subpoena with Ms. Willis’ executive assistant in Atlanta, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the filing.
The subpoena concerns a divorce case between Nathan Wade — a lawyer hired by Ms. Willis to serve as a special prosecutor on the Trump case — and his wife.
The situation could pry loose new details about an alleged improper relationship between Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade.
A bombshell court motion filed by Trump co-defendant Michael Roman alleges that Mr. Wade, a private attorney and father of two, paid for luxury vacations after his law firm received money from Fulton County, Georgia, for work on the Trump case.
“This is a bold allegation considering it is directed to one of the most powerful people in the State of Georgia, the Fulton County District Attorney,” the motion says. “Nevertheless, the district attorney’s fame and power do not change the fact that she decided to appoint as the special prosecutor a person with whom she had a personal relationship and who is now leading the day-to-day prosecution of this case.”
Mr. Roman’s lawyers wrote that Ms. Willis must be disqualified from the case, saying she’s “acquired a personal interest or stake in the defendant’s conviction.”
Mr. Trump said the whole case is tainted.
“Totally compromised, the case has to be dropped,” Mr. Trump said Tuesday. “They say [Ms. Willis is] in far more criminal liability than any of the other people they’re looking at.”
Ms. Willis began investigating the former president three years ago based on his bid to pressure Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to dig up enough votes to overtake President Biden’s narrow electoral victory in the state.
A grand jury indicted Mr. Trump and 18 co-defendants under state racketeering statutes.
The Washington Times left a message with the district attorney’s office inquiring if Ms. Willis would comply with the subpoena and when she planned to respond to Mr. Roman’s motion.
The Georgia case is one of four criminal matters facing Mr. Trump, the Republican front-runner for president.
Special counsel Jack Smith in Washington secured a pair of federal indictments related to Mr. Trump’s storing of sensitive government documents at his Florida estate and his actions to overturn the 2020 election results.
Mr. Trump also faces a New York indictment accusing him of falsifying business records to cover up hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 election.
In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has shuttled to Manhattan for a civil case that alleges he, his adult sons and the Trump Organization submitted false financial statements to gain favorable terms on loans and insurance.
New York Attorney General Letitia James wants to disqualify the Trumps from doing business in New York as part of damages.
Mr. Trump says he followed standard business practices and that banks were happy to do business with him.
Judge Arthur Engoron, who will decide the case, denied Mr. Trump’s bid to speak during closing arguments in the trial on Thursday.
“I assume that Mr. Trump will not agree to the reasonable, lawful limits I have imposed as a precondition to giving a closing statement above and beyond those given by his attorneys, and that, therefore, he will not be speaking in court,” the judge wrote in a memo.
The judge said he would enter the memo into the court’s docket for appeal purposes.
Earlier reports suggested Mr. Trump floated a plan to deliver part of the closing arguments alongside his attorney.
The unusual request underscores how Mr. Trump will keep himself front and center as he juggles his presidential campaign and legal issues this year.
During a weeks-long trial, he’s railed against Ms. James and Judge Engoron in the hallways of the Manhattan courthouse.
Earlier this week, Mr. Trump watched from the gallery while his lawyers argued that he enjoys presidential immunity from a federal indictment alleging he conspired against the U.S. by trying to overturn the 2020 election results.
Mr. Trump addressed the media from a Washington hotel after the hearing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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