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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is lashing out at Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Willis is facing legal action after the Georgia congressman demanded an official investigation into claims that he had an extramarital affair with prosecutor Nathan Wade. Some claim that Willis paid Wade more than $600,000 to serve as a special prosecutor in his investigation into former President Donald Trump and others.
In her first public statement since the issue surfaced, Willis made subtle allusions to the claims during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration. It is unreasonable to expect black women to be perfect, the Fulton County District Attorney said, continuing her portrayal of Wade and herself as victims of racial discrimination.
Regarding Greene, Willis said that her demeanor had become “filled with hate.”
“Dear God, I do not want to be like those that attacked me. I never want to be a Marjorie Taylor Greene who has never met me, but has allowed her spirit to be filled with hate,” she said. “How does this woman, who has the honor of being a leader in my state, how is it that she has not reached out to me?”
“She can tell me, I don’t agree with anything you’re doing, but I do not agree with people threatening your life or the life of your family. That is conduct that is wrong and intolerable, and as a leader I shall not stand for it. How did such a woman come to think that it was normal and normalized that another woman was worthy of such cruelty?” Willis said of Greene.
Regarding the Wade scandal, Greene has filed a criminal complaint against Willis.
Greene has filed a formal complaint with the Republican governor, Brian Kemp, and the Republican attorney general, Chris Carr. Greene is requesting that they look into allegations of political bias on the part of the Democrat regarding the payment of roughly $700,000 to the special prosecutor to assist with her case against former president, Donald Trump, and his associates.
Throughout her speech, Willis painted a picture of Wade and herself as victims of racism.
“Lord, your flawed, hard-headed, and imperfect child, I’m a little confused. I appointed three special counselors. Is my right to do? Paid them all the same hourly rate? They only each had one,” she said. “I hired one white woman, a good personal friend and great lawyer. A superstar, I tell you. I hired one white man, brilliant, my friend, and a great lawyer. And I hired one black man, another superstar, a great friend, and a great lawyer.”
“Oh Lord, they’re going to be mad when I call them out on this nonsense. First thing they say, ‘Oh, she’s going to play the race card now.’ But no God, isn’t it them who’s playing the race card when they only question one?” Willis went on to say. “Isn’t it them playing the race card when they constantly think I need someone from some other jurisdiction in some other state to tell me how to do a job I’ve been doing almost 30 years.”
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According to reports, Greene alleges that Willis paid Special Prosecutor Wade nearly $700,000 using official funds and that he and Willis had traveled together.
Greene went on to assert that if the allegations are accurate, it would reveal “Fani Willis’ serious lawlessness, including potential violation of public oath,” in addition to other laws of Georgia.
Trump’s co-defendant Michael Roman first made the claims in a Monday motion in the Georgia election interference case. Roman wants the District Attorney’s office, Special Prosecutor Wade, and Willis removed from the case.
“Admittedly, 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. 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,” Roman’s attorney wrote in the motion.
CNN reported that Willis received a witness subpoena earlier this week to appear at a deposition for the divorce of Wade. CNN also says that Willis and Wade have declined to comment.
