by Fani T. Willis, the district attorney prosecuting the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald J. Trump, is trying to quash a subpoena seeking her testimony in the divorce proceedings of a special prosecutor she hired to handle the case.
A court filing last week accused Ms. Willis of having a romantic relationship with prosecutor Nathan J. Wade.
The motion containing the indictment was filed by Michael Roman, one of Trump’s 14 co-defendants in the criminal case. The motion contends that the relationship, for which he provided no evidence, constituted a conflict of interest; seeks to have Mr. Wade, Ms. Willis and her office dismissed from the case.
Roman’s attorney has said that sealed court records in the pending divorce case between Wade and his wife, Joycelyn, contain documentation of his relationship with Willis. Wade’s attorney subpoenaed Willis last week and required her to testify on Jan. 23.
On Thursday, Ms. Willis responded with a filing stating that she “lacks personal knowledge of any matter that is relevant” to the divorce. She did not directly acknowledge the allegation, but said there was no reason for her to testify because both Mr. Wade and his wife had stated that their marriage was “irretrievably broken.”
“It is well established that when both parties in a divorce proceeding assert that a marriage is irretrievably broken, which is a legal conclusion meaning that there is no hope of reconciliation, there is no genuine question of fact left to decide regarding the divorce,” Cinque Axam, Ms. Willis’ attorney, wrote in the filing.
The filing also said Ms. Wade had “conspired” with “interested parties” in the Trump case “to annoy, embarrass and oppress” Ms. Willis. She noted that Ms. Willis had been subpoenaed around the same time that Roman’s lawyer, Ashleigh Merchant, filed motions seeking to unseal divorce records and, in the Trump case, remove the two prosecutors.
The filing also said that Ms. Wade had acknowledged having an affair with an old friend of Mr. Wade, and that the couple had agreed that their marriage was “irretrievably broken” as early as 2017, before Mr. Wade and Mrs. Willis met. .
Andrea Dyer Hastings, Wade’s attorney, said she was preparing a response that she would present to the court.
Ms Merchant said in a text message: “Mrs. Willis alleges that she sought her testimony in an attempt to harass and damage her professional reputation. Why would her truthful testimony risk damaging her reputation?
On Thursday, the judge presiding over the Trump case scheduled a hearing for Feb. 15 on Roman’s motion seeking to remove Willis and Wade from the case and dismiss the charges against them. Judge Scott McAfee of Fulton County Superior Court ordered Ms. Willis to file a written response to the motion by February 2 and to appear at the hearing, which will be televised as all proceedings in the case have been. .
A hearing on the unsealing of the divorce records is scheduled for Jan. 31 in Cobb County, Georgia, outside Atlanta.
Roman’s motion in the Trump case states that Wade, who was paid more than $650,000 by the district attorney’s office, used some of that money for trips he and Willis took together. The motion also questions whether Mr. Wade is qualified to play a central role in the high-profile prosecution.
The events of the past 10 days have added an unexpected dimension to a case in which issues of race and gender have also come to the fore.
In a recent testy email exchange between defense attorneys and prosecutors, Willis wrote that “some people will never be able to respect African Americans.” The email exchange, portions of which were obtained by The New York Times, unfolded in the days before and after the romantic relationship allegation was made.
In a group email thread that includes prosecutors and defense attorneys in the case, Trump’s lead lawyer in Georgia, Steven H. Sadow, expressed his annoyance with prosecutors for ignoring a request he had made. On January 5, he wrote to prosecutors: “I cannot for the life of me understand why you refuse to respond to the series of emails below.”
Five days later, Daysha Young, an executive district attorney who, like Willis, is black, wrote that she and Willis “are aware, especially as an African-American woman, some find it difficult to treat us with respect.”
He added: “Over the last month, emails from some of you have been disrespectful and condescending, lacking professionalism and decorum.” Ms Young also said she did not respond to some emails because they were disrespectful.
Sadow, who is white, responded with an email saying it was “offensive, unnecessary and false” to suggest racism was at play. He also said Ms Young’s lack of response to some defense emails “suggests a degree of haughtiness”.
Then Mrs. Willis intervened.
“In the legal community (and the world at large) some people will never be able to respect African Americans and/or women as equals and counterparts,” he wrote in a note addressed to Mr. Sadow but sent to the entire defense. lawyers, most of whom are white men. “That is a burden that is not experienced. Furthermore, some are so used to doing it that they don’t even realize they are doing it, while others are intentional in their continued disrespect.”
Ms. Willis also defended her own strength. “Now you know, I can’t be intimidated,” she wrote. And she added: “As you know, I have now experienced some of the most powerful people in the country calling me everything but a daughter of God. But nevertheless, my team and I continue to seek justice.”
Sadow declined to comment when asked about the exchange Thursday, as did Willis’ office.
In a speech Sunday at a historically black church in Atlanta, Willis suggested that racism was playing a role in the accusations against her and Wade, who is also black.
Willis has not addressed the allegation that she and Wade were romantic partners. She noted the frequent racist threats she has been subjected to since she began her investigation into Trump in 2021.
Trump has tried to portray the Georgia case, and other criminal cases against him, as unfair “witch hunts” that are motivated in part by his being a white man. He has baselessly called Ms. Willis a “racist” and has said the same about other black prosecutors trying cases against him.
During a speech in August, Trump made a unfounded claim that Ms. Willis was “having an affair” with a “gang member.” She said it was fake.
