The subpoena was served just hours before one of Trump’s co-defendants in the case filed a motion alleging that Willis has had an improper relationship with the staffer, Nathan Wade, and accused the pair of unlawfully benefitting from the relationship at taxpayer expense. As initially reported by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Willis was served with a subpoena filed by the attorney of Wade’s wife. The subpoena did not include details on the lines of questioning Willis could face. According to the motion filed by Trump associate Michael Roman, though Wade is still legally married, he and Willis have been in a romantic relationship, vacationing together in destinations such as Napa Valley, Florida, and the Caribbean. The filing states that the pair also took at least two cruises together on Norwegian and Royal Caribbean cruise lines. “Accordingly, the district attorney and the special prosecutor have violated laws regulating the use of public monies, suffer from irreparable conflicts of interest, and have violated their oaths of office under the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct and should be disqualified from prosecuting this matter,” according to the filing. Roman’s attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, says that sealed records from the divorce case, which her team viewed before the court restricted access to them, substantiate the allegations of an affair, WSJ reported. Merchant also said that the Fulton County Board of Commissioners is supposed to approve contracts like those of special prosecutors, but a review of the minutes of every board meeting held since Willis took office shows no record that Wade’s contract was ever discussed, according to WSJ. A spokesperson for Willis has declined to comment on the subpoena and said previously that the DA’s office would be responding to the allegations in their own court filing. Andrew Fleischman, a criminal defense attorney in Atlanta, says that if the allegations that Willis hired her romantic partner to have him prosecute a former president and profit from the arrangement are true, it would be a violation of the state bar association’s code of ethics. “If you are giving money to somebody who appears to be unqualified, and they are giving you some of that money back in the form of summer vacations, then you’re financially benefiting from your prosecution,” he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC). “That’s a conflict of interest.” He added that he does not believe the motion will result in Trump’s case being dismissed but said if Willis is found to have a conflict of interest, the whole DA’s office could be disqualified.Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been subpoenaed in the divorce proceedings of an attorney she hired to serve as special prosecutor in her racketeering case against former President Donald Trump.
