OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Embattled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis handily won her Democratic primary on Tuesday, but like her tenure in office thus far, it wasn’t without controversy.
For one, her supposedly ex-lover and special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, showed up to the campaign party, which turned more than one head.
“Well, consider me shook. At DA Willis’ campaign party in Buckhead, Nathan Wade just walked in. All smiles,” AJC reporter Tamar Hallerman posted on X with a photo of Wade at the event.
At another point, Willis appeared to take a verbal potshot at former President Donald Trump, who she has charged along with more than a dozen others of RICO-related post-2020 election interference charges — a case that is currently in big trouble.
“It’s a message that is p—ing folks off, but there is no one above the law in this country, nor is there anyone beneath it,” Willis said.
Wade and Willis were accused of having an “improper” affair by lawyers for former President Donald Trump and several co-defendants in the sweeping 2020 election interference case.
The accusations claim the pair were romantically involved before Willis hired Wade in 2021 and that Willis benefited financially from the relationship through shared vacations. Both Wade and Willis have denied these accusations.
The relationship has caused huge problems for Willis. Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over the case, allowed Willis and her office to continue prosecuting the case only if Wade left. But he also agreed to allow Trump and his co-defendants to file an appeal of his ruling to a higher court, which Trump has done.
Well consider me shook. At DA Willis’ campaign party in Buckhead and Nathan Wade just walked in. All smiles pic.twitter.com/hc7uKPn5ka
— Tamar Hallerman (@TamarHallerman) May 21, 2024
Earlier this month, Trump’s legal team informed the Fulton County Superior Court that he is formally appealing the court’s previous ruling allowing Willis to remain on her RICO case.
The issue with Willis began in early January when former White House staff member Michael Roman filed a motion seeking to disqualify DA Willis from prosecuting the case against Trump and his co-defendants following discovery of the relationship with Wade.
On March 15, Judge Scott McAfee ruled that Trump and his co-defendants “failed to meet their burden” of proving that the romantic relationship between Willis and Wade constituted a “conflict of interest” or that Willis benefited from it. However, McAfee acknowledged a “significant appearance of impropriety” and decided that either Willis or Wade would need to step aside for the case to proceed in Fulton County. A few hours later, Wade resigned.
On March 18, Trump and several of his co-defendants sought permission from Judge McAfee to appeal his decision, and on March 20, McAfee granted their request. On March 29, attorneys for Trump and his co-defendants filed an application for an interlocutory appeal, arguing that Wade’s departure did not resolve the appearance of impropriety and had “cast a pall over these entire proceedings.”
On May 8, the Georgia Court of Appeals agreed to hear the appeal, giving Trump and his 14 co-defendants 10 days to file a notice of appeal, thus transferring the case from Fulton County Superior Court to the Court of Appeals, Fox 5 reported.
Meanwhile, a recent ruling allows attorneys representing one of the co-defendants in the Georgia case to contend that Willis exceeded her jurisdiction when she filed her charges against him. McAfee wrote that he was willing to entertain Lloyd’s argument that Willis’ “election-related” investigation was beyond her jurisdiction.
He has previously argued that she “did not have authority to investigation or presentment authority to bring election-related charges against the Defendant absent a referral from the State Election Board,” according to filings.
