District Attorney Fani Willis Wednesday sought to quash subpoenas that would require her and members of her staff to testify as part of a hearing to determine whether she committed misconduct and should be barred from prosecuting Fulton County’s election interference case.
In a motion filed Wednesday, the DA called the subpoenas an “effort to support reckless accusations” of wrongdoing against her that should be promptly dismissed.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump renewed his call for Willis to be barred from prosecuting him and Jeffrey Clark became the latest defendant to file a motion seeking to disqualify the district attorney.
Wednesday’s filings are the latest salvos in a monthlong battle that began when defendant Michael Roman accused Willis of having a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the private attorney she appointed to oversee the election case. Roman also suggested Wade is not qualified for the job and said the pair had benefitted financially from the case.
In a response last week, Willis said she’s done nothing improper. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has scheduled a Feb. 15 hearing for arguments on Roman’s motion.
Roman is seeking testimony from Willis and Wade, along with seven other attorneys and employees in the DA’s office. In her latest motion, Willis said the subpoenas amount to harassment of opposing counsel and an attempt to disrupt and delay the case.
She is also seeking to quash subpoenas a for other Wade’s divorce attorney, Terrence Bradley. And she argued a subpoena for Wade’s personal and business records from Synovus Bank should also be quashed.
In their own filing Wednesday, Trump’s attorneys said Willis’ conduct has been “egregious” and “unethical.” They cited her comments during a Jan. 14 speech at Big Bethel AME Church. During the speech, Willis said Wade is qualified to lead the prosecution and suggested those who question is qualifications are “playing the race card.” Willis and Wade are Black.
“The DA’s provocative and inflammatory extrajudicial racial comments, made in a widely publicized speech at a historical Black church in Atlanta, and cloaked in repeated references to God, catalyzed the quintessential ‘appearance of impropriety’ regarding her prosecutorial judgement and conduct,” attorneys Steven Sadow and Jennifer Little wrote in a response to Willis.
Several other defendants also are seeking to disqualify Willis, including Clark, who filed his motion Monday.
On Monday a group of ethics experts filed a brief defending Willis. They said her relationship with Wade did not constitute a conflict of interest meriting disqualification under Georgia law. They likewise said her comments at the church do not merit disqualification.
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