Trump co-defendant accuses DA Fani Willis of falsehoods in admission of 'personal relationship'
Ahead of an evidentiary hearing scheduled for next week, one of Donald Trump's co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case filed a sweeping new motion Friday accusing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis of including falsehoods in her filing this week that admitted to a "personal relationship" with prosecutor Nathan Wade.
The new 122-page filing from co-defendant Michael Roman, who first filed the misconduct allegations against Willis, specifically claims he has a witness prepared to testify at the evidentiary hearing next week that Willis and Wade's relationship started before he was hired for the case -- which would refute a claim contained in Wade's affidavit in the filing that the relationship started after he was hired by Willis.
Roman says a business associate of Wade's will "refute that claim."
Roman also alleges that individual, Terrence Bradley, "will confirm" that Willis and Wade "stayed together" at an apartment Willis once shared with a former employee of the DA's office -- an apparent contradiction to the claim in the Wade affidavit that they never cohabitated.
"As noted above, Bradley, a personal friend of Wade's, confirms that Willis and Wade were in a romantic relationship before Willis even took office and that Willis and Wade stayed together at Yearti's residence and the 'safehouse,'" the filing from Roman's attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, stated. "Thus, two crucial statements in Wade's affidavit about the relationship ... are in dispute."
If true, said former Georgia prosecutor and ABC News contributor Chris Timmons, it would mean that Wade committed perjury in his affidavit that was submitted to the court as part of the filing.
Roman subpoenaed Bradley to testify at the hearing next week. The DA's office has asked the judge to quash that subpoena and cancel the hearing altogether.
A spokesperson for the district attorney's office declined to comment to ABC News.
Willis's filing acknowledged the relationship between her and Wade, but argued it would not matter to the case.
She argued that any expenses between her and Wade were shared, and flatly denied that she financially benefited from the relationship or the case.
"Any personal relationship among members of the prosecution team does not amount to a disqualifying conflict of interest or otherwise harm a criminal defendant," her filing stated.
Roman's filing on Friday acknowledged what they described as the "monumental and historic task" the judge is facing of potentially disqualifying a district attorney who is prosecuting a former American president, saying it is "unprecedented, and we are in uncharted waters" --- but the filing urges the judge to do so.
The filing also alleges that, though the DA has denied this allegation, it is "evident" that Willis and Wade "enriched" themselves off the of their prosecution of Trump and 18 others in the form of "incredible amounts of money paid to Wade by Willis that has, in turn, resulted in Willis' personal financial benefit in the form of vacations, hotel stays and the like."
Roman included new allegations of additional payments Wade allegedly made for his and Willis's travel, listing out five different trips they allege Wade paid for to locations including Belize. In one instance, they allege he paid approximately $3,500 for a cruise for the two of them in the Bahamas in October 2022.
"In other words, the more work that is done on the case (regardless of what justice calls for) the more they get paid," the filing claims.
Trump, Roman, and 17 others pleaded not guilty in August to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.
Four defendants in the case subsequently took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.
