The lawyer prosecuting Donald Trump and 18 of his cronies for allegedly trying to steal the election in Georgia has another hurdle to overcome.
Scandal-plagued Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could already be booted from the case over her relationship with a lawyer she hired to help run it.
Now she could lose her job entirely as two Atlanta lawyers challenge her for district attorney hours before her filing deadline.
Republican Courtney Kramer, who worked under Trump in the White House, and Democrat Christian Wise Smith threw their hats in the ring on Friday.
Scandal-plagued Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could already be booted from the case over her relationship with a lawyer she hired to help run it (pictured in this week’s hearings).
The two vote-getters in the May 21 primary, regardless of party, will face each other in a runoff in November, so Fani will have to campaign immediately.
Kramer has an uphill battle in the deeply Democratic county, and Smith ran unsuccessfully against Willis when she was elected in 2020.
Fani spent last week in court defending herself against attempts to remove her from the Trump case over her relationship with Nathan Wade.
Her opponents accused her of a conflict of interest in hiring her lover, who is going through a divorce, as a well-paid special prosecutor.
Defense attorneys claimed Willis was lying about when her relationship with Wade began. Both Willis and Wade testified that it began in 2022, after Willis already included him in the case.
Fani denied the relationship was inappropriate and is awaiting Judge Scott McAfee’s decision in the next two weeks on whether she will be disqualified from the case.
If she is kicked off the case, it could delay Trump’s election fraud case in Georgia for months and could even lead to charges being dropped.
Willis criticized the procedure while speaking to reporters outside the state Capitol, where he called it a “political pursuit.”
“People are angry because I’m going to do the right thing and stand up for justice,” he said. “They can continue with their games and I will continue doing the work of the town.”
Democrat Christian Wise Smith filed a lawsuit Friday to challenge Willis in the May 21 primary for Fulton County district attorney.
Republican Courtney Kramer, who served under Trump in the White House, is also a challenge but faces an uphill battle in the deeply Democratic county.
Defense attorneys said the explosive text messages showed she lied about when she started dating Wade and accused her of playing the “race card” when she said the allegations against her were politically motivated.
Lawyers began closing arguments Friday after a series of successful court sessions in which Willis testified there was nothing inappropriate about her relationship with Wade and defended paying cash for her lavish overseas trips.
Smith suggested that his candidacy could be more of a contingency against Fani’s expulsion from the Trump case.
“I will reserve my comments (on his current situation) until we know more,” he said. cnn.
‘Then we will decide whether to go ahead with this campaign at full speed after the decision. Today was the last day to qualify. Right now, we’re just dotting our I’s and crossing our T’s.’
Georgia Democratic leaders are concerned that Willis could be kicked out of the case and have appeared in court to support her during hearings.
Ashley Merchant, the lawyer defending Trump’s co-defendant Michael Roman, was the first to expose Willis’ relationship with Wade.
He claimed in explosive testimony that Wills paid Wade nearly double the salary of his colleagues and met Kamala Harris before she accused Donald Trump.
Merchant too testified at a Georgia State Senate hearing as a judge considered whether to disqualify Willis from the Trump case.
He said Wade received more than $650,000 in billing from Willis and left little information on his invoices, and that Willis “is the one who approves the invoices.”
He also testified about the 12,000 text messages Wade and Willis exchanged before claiming they began their relationship.
Wade was also in court as she watched the Fulton County District Attorney’s attorneys argue that she should not be kicked off the case because of their relationship.
Willis (left) and her ex-boyfriend Wade (right) sit at the prosecutor’s table during closing arguments at her disqualification hearing on March 1.
Merchant on Wednesday outlined his theory that Willis and Wade deliberately presented a complex case that allowed Wade to bill more hours and potentially benefited him and Wade.
He then faced questions about why Willis, who earns a salary of more than $200,000 a year, would engage in the elaborate scheme in exchange for vacations and trips worth several thousand dollars.
Trump attorney Stephen Sadow claimed Willis was playing the “race and religion card” in an effort to influence the jury that would hear conspiracy charges against him in Georgia.
He accuses Willis of “inexcusable” conduct in a new legal filing, after focusing during explosive hearings on Willis’ speech at an Atlanta church on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.
He accused her of “meaninglessly playing both the race and religion cards” and accused her of unfairly attacking Trump’s lawyers and his co-defendants.
Trump and 18 co-defendants were charged on August 15 with an alleged extortion “criminal enterprise” to overturn the election.