The allegation of Fani Willis reportedly having a close personal relationship with the special prosecutor she hired for her case against former President Donald Trump has even Democrats lamenting the impropriety, bad optics, and presentation of political bias.
"I'd tell her to get out of the case," former U.S. Attorney in Georgia Michael Moore, a Democrat, told CNN. "I really think in this type of case with these allegations, this case is bigger than any one prosecutor.
"And I think probably to preserve the case to show what's most important to her is the facts of the Trump case as opposed to her political career, if you will, at this moment."
In addition to the allegation that Fulton County District Attorney Willis is Nathan Wade's girlfriend, it is alleged that Willis' office paid Wade more than $650,000 with taxpayer dollars to be outside counsel to prosecute Trump and that Wade has allegedly paid to take Willis on lavish vacations.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent a letter to Wade, demanding "documents and information about the coordination of the Fulton County District Attorney's Office (FCDAO) with other politically motivated investigations and the potential misuse of federal funds."
While former DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James, a Democrat, is willing to overlook the allegations of impropriety being raised, he still says Willis was wrong to hire Wade, pay him a fortune in her career-making Trump case, have a personal relationship, and then benefit directly from the money she paid him by taking vacations with him.
"If I had a personal relationship, I probably would have not done it — not because there's anything inappropriate about it, only because people will take it, twist it, and make it look like there's something inappropriate going on," James told CNN.
"It's, just politically, is not something that I think is wise."
CNN's reporting acknowledged the hiring of Wade as an outside prosecutor was precarious from the start, with Georgia lawyers wondering, "Why him?"
They apparently have found out, allegedly, to deleterious results.
Willis has the largest DA staff in Georgia, including salaried lawyers with far more experience prosecuting felonies than Wade, who had mostly dealt with misdemeanors, according to CNN.
The allegations about Willis' relationship with Wade are furthered by her being subpoenaed in Wade's recent divorce proceedings, lending credence to impropriety alleged in a filing by Michael Roman, a fellow Trump case defendant.
Also, House Republicans are investigating allegations that Wade has invoiced meetings with President Joe Biden's White House, a fact Trump is saying furthers his long-held allegation that the indictments against him are coming in coordination, if not collusion and conspiracy, with Biden administration officials, up to and including the president.
Wade's income surpasses that of prosecutors in Willis' office, according to Roman's filing.
"Prosecutors must be held to the highest standard, because unlike us poor defense lawyers, they get to take away people's liberty," criminal defense attorney Scott Grubman, who struck Ken Chesebro's plea deal with Willis' prosecutors last year, told CNN.
As Trump has said repeatedly in campaign rallies and on social media, lawyers told CNN they agree Willis' case is now compromised.
"Now, you've made it that much harder at having a chance at securing any sort of conviction," a lawyer who is a friend of Wade's told CNN. "It's disappointing."
But, despite all the allegations of impropriety, conflicts of interest, and potential conspiracy with the Biden White House, Wade's "utter lack of experience" and being paid more than $650,000 to take on perhaps the most prominent anti-racketeering case in American history against a former president is a major red flag, according to defense attorney Manny Arora.
"The bigger concern is hiring an attorney to handle the biggest RICO case, possibly, in the history of U.S. jurisprudence, when that counsel has never handled a RICO case before," Arora told CNN.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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