Donald Trump’s lawyers have accused Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis of playing the “race and religion card” in an effort to influence the jury that would hear conspiracy charges against him in Georgia.
Trump attorney Stephen Sadow 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 accuses her of “meaninglessly playing both the race and religion cards” and accused her of unfairly attacking Trump’s lawyers and his co-defendants. He made similar arguments orally during explosive evidentiary hearings in recent weeks over whether Willis should be disqualified from the cases following revelations of her affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Attorney Ashleigh Merchant testified before a Georgia Senate subcommittee on Wednesday, where she revealed that Wade, whom she named as lead prosecutor, earned nearly twice as much as other members of her team.
A new filing by Donald Trump’s lawyers accuses the Fulton district attorney of playing the ‘race card’ when he said the allegations against him were politically motivated and targeted his ex-boyfriend, special prosecutor Nathan Wade, because to his race.
Fulton County prosecutors argued in court that defense attorneys must establish an actual conflict of interest, while defense attorneys argue that just one’s “appearance” is enough, after testimony and documents revealed that Willis and Wade They took luxurious trips together.
Willis made similar arguments in his presentations, which Sadow attempted to counter in his own presentation Tuesday.
“Our case involves much more egregious and inexcusable types of forensic misconduct: deliberately stoking racial and religious bias against defense attorneys and defendants, falsely testifying under oath, and committing court fraud in the prosecution of defendants,” he wrote. he New York Post reported.
The dueling filings come as Judge Scott McAfee is weighing whether to remove Willis and Wade from the case.
Defense attorneys accuse Willis of lying about when her relationship with Wade began. Both Willis and Wade testified that it began in 2022, after Willis brought him into the case.
The filing accused Willis of testifying “falsely” about when his “personal relationship” with Wade began.
It references Willis’ speech at Big Bethel AME Church, where he referred to Wade as “a great friend and a great lawyer” immediately after the affair allegations were first raised in a legal filing.
He mentioned that two other special prosecutors in the case are white. “They only attacked one,” he said, the Constitution of the Atlanta newspaper reported at the time.
“The first thing they say is, ‘Oh, now she’s going to play the race card,'” Willis said. “But no, God, aren’t they the ones playing the race card when they only question one? race card when they constantly think I need someone from some other jurisdiction in some other state to tell me how to do a job I’ve been doing for almost 30 years?
Defense attorneys bristled at the suggestion of racism in court and accused Willis of using the speech to influence potential jurors in the sprawling case, which involves Trump and 18 indicted co-defendants.
‘The issue we have discussed here about forensic misconduct is not simply the discourse of the church. That’s why he did it. How he did it,” Sadow said in court last week.
Judge McAfee expressed some skepticism about the charge in court. ‘Assuming that someone’s character can be impugned to the point of constituting forensic misconduct, why is that the case here?’ he asked.
“The state’s main position was that they didn’t talk about you in church,” McAfee said.
News of the filing comes as a defense attorney claimed in explosive testimony that Wills paid her prosecutor boyfriend Nathan Wade nearly double the salary of his colleagues and met Kamala Harris before she accused Donald Trump.
Ashley Merchant, who was the first to come forward with surprising allegations about the affair Willis had with Special Prosecutor Wade, testified at a Georgia State Senate hearing as a judge considered whether to disqualify Willis from the Trump case.
Trump’s co-defendant’s attorney, Michael Roman, said Wade received more than $650,000 in invoices 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.
Willis risks being thrown out of Trump’s trial over allegations that she began dating Wade before hiring him to investigate the former president.
The district attorney has denied that the relationship was inappropriate and is now awaiting Judge Scott McAfee’s decision on whether she will be disqualified.
Attorney John Merchant speaks with his wife and co-counsel Ashleigh Merchant during the hearing on the Georgia election interference case.
In his testimony Wednesday, Merchant said there was “virtually zero” liability in Wade’s billing, where he was paid $250 an hour.
Willis, in his stunning testimony last month, said Wade took a pay cut from what he considered a private attorney before adding him to his team, in a move he testified came before they began their romantic relationship.
The GOP-led panel is investigating Willis’ office as a judge decides whether to disqualify her and avoid racketeering conspiracy charges brought against Donald Trump and 18 of his alleged accomplices related to their attempt to overturn the state’s election. .
Merchant filed a lawsuit on behalf of Trump’s co-defendant, Michael Roman, asking that Willis be removed from the case due to her “inappropriate” relationship with prosecutor Wade.
She was testifying before a Senate Special Committee after receiving a subpoena.
Businessman saying there was “virtually zero” liability in their billing. Records produced by Merchant have previously shown that Wade was paid more than $650,000 in billings by Willis’ office.
Wade testified that he sometimes worked beyond what he could bill, and Willis testified that she appointed him as lead prosecutor after another preferred candidate did not accept the position.
In even more explosive testimony, Merchant said Willis met with Vice President Kamala Harris on February 28, 2023 on a trip to Washington, DC. He cited White House records and said Atlanta’s Democratic Mayor Andre Dickens also attended.
The meeting raises questions about whether Trump’s prosecution arose, although Merchant did not provide any evidence that it did.
Trump and 18 co-defendants were charged on August 15 with an alleged extortion “criminal enterprise” to overturn the election.
Willis (left) and her ex-boyfriend Wade (right) sit at the prosecutor’s table during closing arguments at her disqualification hearing on March 1.
Ashleigh Merchant and her husband John have been representing Trump’s co-defendants at the disqualification hearing as they push for Willis to be removed from the case.
On Wednesday, Merchant 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.
Merchant represents Michael Roman, who was charged as part of the effort to replace ‘fake voters’ in a state dominated by Joe Biden in 2020.
An evidentiary hearing included testimony about how Willis would reimburse Wade in cash for travel expenses to Napa Valley and other locations.
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.”
State Sen. Harold V. Jones II (D) said the court hearing on whether she should be disbarred gauged whether there was “real injustice to the defendant” facing the charges.
—Can you point out any injustice in the trial that has been held? he asked the Merchant.