Trump's Trials - Fani Willis admits relationship with prosecutor in Georgia case, denies wrongdoing

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's Trump's Trials. I'm Scott Detrow. This is a persecution. He actually just stormed out of the courtroom. Innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. We are here with some news out of Georgia. Fulton County District Attorney Fonny Willis has entered her motion in response to accusations that she had an improper relationship with prosecutor Nathan Wade, the outside counsel who is leading the prosecution of Trump and other co-defendants in Georgia.

Starting point is 00:00:30 And in the court filing, Willis admits that she and Wade had been in a relationship. But Willis is denying any wrongdoing and argues the calls for her and the case's dismissal are meritless. Stick with us for that reporting. And make sure to check your podcast feed Saturday as well for our regular roundup of the week's news. This message comes from NPR sponsor, Solgar. As people age, cellular function declines, which may impact changes in energy and strength. Solgar Cellular Nutrition is a holistic collection of cellular nutrients formulated to help fight cellular decline and promote cell health.

Starting point is 00:01:13 Learn more at cellularnutrition.solgar.com. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. You're listening to Trump's Trials. I'm Scott Detrow. And now, here's Mary Louise Kelly. The Atlanta attorney prosecuting Donald Trump and his allies is pushing back against claims of misconduct. Today, Fulton County DA Fannie Willis admitted to a relationship with a prosecutor on the case. She denies, though, violating any ethical standards or any laws. Well, helping us understand the latest is NPR's Stephen Fowler, who's in Atlanta. Hey, Stephen. Hey there. Okay, so I want to make sure that we

Starting point is 00:01:56 just understand what these misconduct allegations against Fannie Willis are. Lay them out. So one of the co-defendants in this 2020 election interference case is Mike Roman. He's a former Trump campaign official. He filed a motion last month seeking to dismiss the charges against him and disqualify Willis from the case. This filing claimed that Willis hired Nathan Wade as an outside prosecutor on the case in 2021 and hired him as they were in a relationship. Wade's been paid hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars for his work since then, so Roman's lawyers argue Willis and Wade are financially benefiting from this prosecution, violating ethics rules, and even

Starting point is 00:02:37 violating federal racketeering laws, which is a bit ironic considering that the RICO racketeering law is what Roman, Trump, and others have been charged with at the state level. Separately but relatedly, Nathan Wade's been in these lengthy divorce proceedings where fights over money and similar allegations of infidelity led to documents filed that showed Wade paid for two plane tickets in Fonny Willis' name. Fast forward to what happened then in court this afternoon. Willis, as we said, admitted to having a relationship with Wade, but she's insisting there's no wrongdoing and that none of this has any bearing on the Trump case. Tell us more. Well, Mary Louise, first off, it's important to note this isn't challenging any of the charges against Trump

Starting point is 00:03:19 or others or dealing with any of the facts about what happened once he lost Georgia's electoral votes. This is a separate issue. Yes, the filing says there's a personal relationship between others or dealing with any of the facts about what happened once he lost Georgia's electoral votes, this is a separate issue. Yes, the filing says there's a personal relationship between the two, but not until 2022 after Wade was hired to work on the case. Willis says there's no conflict of interest in the relationship, there's no financial benefit from prosecuting Trump or any other defendant, no violation of racketeering laws, and she pushes back on the legal arguments made to try and dismiss these charges. It's a pretty strongly worded response, accusing the defendants basically of stirring up the pot and trying to attack them

Starting point is 00:03:55 in the court of public opinion. Yeah, that's what I want to hear about, the court of public opinion, setting aside the legal issues. How is all this affecting perception of the case? Well, it's certainly been affecting perception of the case? Well, it's certainly been further fanning the flames surrounding an already red-hot case. The original allegations were made January 8th, several weeks ago, and the time since then has led to a lot of headlines and speculation filling the gap. I mean, even some of Fannie Willis's allies have suggested she stepped down from the prosecution. It's also led to even more attacks against Willis and the charges by Trump and his allies, which has been part of his playbook in all the other criminal cases he's facing. Trump's lawyers here have joined onto

Starting point is 00:04:35 the motion to toss out the charges, and no matter what a judge decides, the admission of a relationship could taint perception of the DA leading this case. Dates to watch. What comes next? Well, we have this response from Willis. The next thing scheduled is a hearing on the matter, February 15th. Willis says there's no need for a hearing now that she has this response, and the judge should just deny the requests outright. But if this hearing still happens, we should expect arguments about the relationship's impact and details on the case to be front and center and televised live. The judge could ultimately agree with Willis that we move closer to getting an initial trial date set, or the judge could remove the case to a different district attorney. But one thing is for certain, there will be continued

Starting point is 00:05:20 attacks on both the prosecutor and the charges from Trump and other Republican allies until the case is resolved. And case in point, Trump has already posted about it on his Truth social media platform. NPR's Stephen Fowler reporting from Atlanta. Thank you, Stephen. Thank you. Thanks for listening to Trump's Trials from NPR. Keep an eye out for more episodes like this whenever big news happens. And we'll be back later this week with our regular show on Saturday. I'm Scott Detrow. Support for NPR and the following message come from SAP Concur, a leading brand for integrated travel expense and invoice management solutions. With SAP Concur solutions, you'll be ready to take on whatever the market throws at you next. Learn more at Concur.com. All that sitting and swiping, your body is adapting to your technology. Learn how and what you can do about it. I really felt like the cloud in my brain kind of dissipated. Once I started realizing what a difference these little bricks were making, there's no turning back for me.

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Trump's Trials - Fani Willis admits relationship with prosecutor in Georgia case, denies wrongdoing

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