Georgia district attorney prosecuting Trump has been subpoenaed over claims of improper relationship

Fulton County Dist. Atty. Fani Willis and a special prosecutor she hired for the Georgia election interference case against former President Trump have been issued subpoenas by a defense lawyer who has alleged Willis and the prosecutor had an inappropriate romantic relationship.

Ashleigh Merchant, an attorney for Trump co-defendant Michael Roman, filed a motion Jan. 8 seeking to dismiss the indictment and to remove Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade from the case.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who’s presiding over the election case, has ordered Willis’ team to respond by Friday to the motion. He has set a hearing on the matter for Feb. 15.

Merchant confirmed that she had subpoenaed Willis and Wade to testify at that hearing.

Merchant’s law firm also filed a lawsuit Tuesday accusing Willis’ office of failing to comply with the Georgia Open Records Act, saying it appears “to be intentionally withholding information” that she has requested.

Willis spokesperson Jeff DiSantis declined to comment on the subpoenas, but disputed Merchant’s claims about the records.

“We’ve provided her with the information she’s entitled to,” DiSantis said, adding that some of the records were still being compiled.

He provided a letter that he said Willis’ office had sent to Merchant last week providing an update on the status of the records requests. He also provided screenshots that indicated Merchant had accessed some of the records.

Neither Willis nor Wade has publicly addressed the allegations of an inappropriate relationship. Willis’ office has said it will respond to Merchant’s motion in a court filing.

Willis, an elected Democrat, hired Wade in November 2021 to help with her investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.

Since a Fulton County grand jury returned an indictment in August against Trump and 18 others, Wade has led the team of lawyers Willis assembled to prosecute the case.

Trump has seized on the allegations as he campaigns for the Republican nomination for president, using the claims to try to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the case against him.

Four of Trump’s co-defendants have pleaded guilty in the case after reaching plea deals with prosecutors. Trump and his remaining co-defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Roman is a former Trump campaign staffer and White House aide. Trump and co-defendant Robert Cheeley, a Georgia lawyer, have joined his motion.

Roman’s filing alleges that Willis had paid Wade large sums for his work and then improperly benefited when Wade paid for them to go on trips, creating a conflict of interest.

The filing also questions Wade’s qualifications for the job.

No proof of the alleged relationship was included in the motion. Willis spoke out at a church service nearly a week after the filing, defending Wade’s qualifications without addressing the allegations of a relationship.

In a court filing seeking to avoid sitting for a deposition in Wade’s divorce case, Willis accused his wife of trying to obstruct the election case. Wade’s wife, filing in response, provided credit card statements indicating he’d bought plane tickets for Willis to travel with him to San Francisco and Miami.