The three-year investigation into Donald J. Trump and his allies for alleged election interference in Georgia faces its biggest hurdle in a hearing Thursday, with a judge ruling on the lead prosecutor and his office. Begin determining whether the person should be disqualified from the case.
The hearing will explore the romantic relationship between the two lead prosecutors, Fulton County District Attorney Fanni T. Willis and Nathan J. Wade, the man she hired to handle the case. The defense argues that their relationship created an unsustainable conflict of interest.
Willis, Wade and many others have been subpoenaed to testify at the hearing, including more than half a dozen prosecutors and other employees of the district attorney's office, as well as Wade's former divorce attorney. include. Willis' office has indicated that prosecutors may call her father, who lives with her in Atlanta, as a witness.
Trump and 18 other defendants were indicted last August on racketeering and various other charges in connection with a plot to overturn the presidential election results in a number of swing states. Four of the defendants have already pleaded guilty.
Revelations about Willis and Wade's affair surfaced last month in a legal filing by former Trump campaign official Michael Roman, one of the defendants in the Georgia election lawsuit.
The argument being made by Mr. Roman and lawyers for the other defendants hinges on allegations of economic dispute. Mr. Wade has been paid more than $650,000 since being hired in 2021, during which time he has spent the money on vacations he took with Mr. Willis.
The defense argues that the money the district attorney paid Mr. Wade provided Mr. Willis with an incentive to prolong the case, a situation that violates numerous laws and rules of professional conduct for Georgia attorneys. ing.
Willis acknowledged the romantic relationship in a filing last week, but said it began after Wade was hired and had nothing to do with the case or her ability to lead the case. She said there was no financial conflict on the trip as the cost of her couple's personal travel was “split approximately evenly” between her and Mr. Wade.
“The defense has not presented the facts,” Anna Cross, an attorney on the district attorney's legal team, said during Monday's hearing. She said: “The defense doesn't bring the law to you. The defense brings gossip and the state cannot and should not tolerate that kind of behavior.”
Still, Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Scott McAfee was persuaded that there was good reason to hold an evidentiary hearing to examine the situation in more detail. He refused to cancel a subpoena compelling witness testimony.
“It is clear that disqualification may occur if evidence of an actual conflict or appearance of a conflict is presented,” the judge said during a hearing Monday afternoon.
He added: “I think the facts asserted by the defendant may lead to disqualification, so I think an evidentiary hearing needs to be held to establish the record regarding these core allegations.”
The stakes are pretty high. Although the circumstances do not change the facts underlying the prosecution, a disqualification would stall the case.
There is already precedent for what disqualification means. In July 2022, a judge ordered Mr. Willis and his office to file a lawsuit against Mr. Willis and his office because Mr. Willis was leading a fundraiser for one of his political opponents, Bert Jones, now the lieutenant governor of Georgia. He was disqualified from filing criminal proceedings against him.
A replacement prosecutor has not been named. But the key difference is that Trump and his co-defendants have already been indicted by a grand jury. Mr. Jones' case had not yet reached that stage.
The evidentiary hearing is expected to last at least until Friday. It wasn't entirely clear, even from the lawyers involved, whether it would take longer to complete.
