Fulton DA Fani Willis defends special prosecutor during church speech

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Sunday defended the special prosecutor overseeing the Donald Trump election interference case amid bombshell allegations the two are having an “improper” relationship.

Speaking publicly for the first time since last week’s court filing accused her of hiring a romantic partner to help prosecute the former president, Willis told the congregation at Big Bethel AME Church that attorney Nathan Wade is a legal “superstar” who is uniquely qualified for the role.

ExploreFiling alleges ‘improper’ relationship between Fulton DA, top Trump prosecutor

Without ever addressing him by name, Willis referred to Wade as “a great friend and a great lawyer” and said he is paid the same hourly rate as the other two special prosecutors hired to assist with the case. She did not deny or confirm that the two are romantically involved.

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Last week’s court filing, from defendant and former Trump campaign operative Michael Roman, alleges that Willis hired Wade after they became romantically involved and that Wade, a private attorney, paid for vacations he took with Willis using the Fulton County funds his law firm received for the work on the elections case.

The document did not include any concrete evidence but indicated that some relevant information was included in Wade’s sealed divorce proceedings. Roman’s attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, has said she’s trying to get those records unsealed.

County records show that Wade — who led prosecutors’ presentation to the special grand jury, signed off on subpoenas, interviewed key witnesses and negotiated immunity deals in the case — has been paid nearly $654,000 in legal fees since January 2022.

Critics of the Trump probe have seized on the news to question Willis’ judgment and frame the case as irreparably tainted.

Moments after Willis’ remarks in Atlanta, Trump was at a pre-caucus rally in Indianola, Iowa, saying the allegations against Willis and Wade are proof the case against him should be dropped.

”You saw Fani Willis gave her boyfriend a million bucks to go get Trump, right?” he said, exaggerating the amount the special prosecutor has been paid so far for his work on the case. “She’s been exposed, I can’t imagine they can continue on with that case.”

Emotional at times during her 35-minute speech, Willis read from a letter that she said she penned to God during a particularly trying week.

Credit: Miguel Martinez

Standing in front of the choir during the historic Black church’s Martin Luther King Jr.-themed service, Willis noted that the other two special prosecutors on the Trump case, John Floyd and Anna Green Cross, are both white. She did not mention those two by name.

“They only attacked one,” Willis told the congregation.

ExploreFulton DA Fani Willis to speak at Atlanta’s oldest Black church on Sunday

“First thing they say, ‘Oh, she’s gonna play the race card now,” Willis said. “But no God, isn’t it them that’s playing the race card when they only question one? Isn’t it them playing the 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 almost 30 years?”

Floyd, a prominent expert on racketeering laws, on has been consulting with Willis’ office on the Trump and Young Slime Life RICO cases for almost three years. Cross, known for her experience arguing high-profile cases, including the Dunwoody day care and Jamil Al-Amin murder cases, has been deployed twice by Willis to argue during two key courtroom moments in the Trump case.

According to billing documents reviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Cross’ firm has been paid almost $43,000 for her work on the election interference case and Floyd’s has been paid $73,000 by the DA’s office.

Records obtained through an Open Records Act request and reviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution show that Cross was paid $250 an hour for her work and Floyd $150 or $200 an hour for his services. Wade has been paid $250 an hour for his services, records show.

Willis called Wade “a lawyer with impeccable credentials,” and tried to downplay some of the criticism hurled his way in recent days.

ExploreWho is Nathan Wade, Fulton special prosecutor in Trump case?

“The Black man I chose has been a judge more than 10 years, run a private practice more than 20, represented businesses in civil litigation — I ain’t done y’all,” the veteran prosecutor said, as some in the audience voiced their support. “Served as a prosecutor, a criminal defense lawyer, special assistant attorney general ...”

Willis mentioned an award Wade received from the State Bar of Georgia, telling the church, “You know they ain’t just giving this to Black men.”

She also alluded to work Wade previously did for former Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren.

“How come, God, the same Black man I hired was acceptable when a Republican in another county hired him and paid him twice the rate?” she asked to a smattering of cheers and applause. “Why is the white male Republican’s judgment good enough, but the Black female Democrats’ not?”

In 2020, Wade’s firm was retained by Warren to review complaints of use of force, racial biases, discrimination and neglect at the county jail after seven detainees had died in custody. Three months later, an Atlanta television station sued Warren, accusing him of manufacturing a fake investigation to circumvent open records laws. Wade defended his work. A judge later ordered the sheriff to release the records.

Merchant’s motion seeks to have the charges against Roman dismissed and for Willis, Wade and the entire DA’s office to be disqualified from further prosecution of Georgia’s election interference case.

“If anybody doubts our claim that Wade is inexperienced, ask him how many RICO cases he has handled,” Merchant said Sunday in a statement. “Ask him how many felonies he has tried. This has nothing to do with the color of his skin.

“The biggest difference between Ms. Cross, Mr. Floyd and Mr. Wade is that Ms. Willis is not in a relationship with Ms. Cross and Mr. Floyd,” Merchant continued. “We look forward to litigating these issues in court.”

Willis’ spokesman has said the DA will respond to Merchant’s allegations in an upcoming court filing, though it’s still unclear when that will be submitted.

Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the case, said Friday that he would schedule a hearing on the matter after Willis weighs in formally.

From the pulpit, Willis said she and her family are threatened so often, that it’s “not normal if I don’t have two death threats a week.”

“People call me the n-word more than they call me Fani,” she said, recounting a Christmas night “doxing” in which a man reportedly called 911 and said he’d just shot a woman at her address.

Credit: Miguel Martinez

Willis also mentioned U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has been an outspoken critic of the district attorney and her efforts to prosecute the former president.

“Dear God, I do not want to be like those that attack me,” Willis said. “I never want to a Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has never met me, but has allowed her spirit to be filled with hate.”

Sporting a black dress she said she picked up at Ross Dress for Less for $30, Willis appeared to be in good spirits.

“I hope for y’all this week I don’t look like what I’ve been through,” she told the crowd.

AJC staff writers Bill Rankin, Tamar Hallerman and Patricia Murphy contributed to this article.