Trump lawyers move to dismiss DA Fani Willis from election fraud case, accusing her of ‘racial prejudice’
Lawyers for Donald Trump asked for the district attorney prosecuting him over election fraud charges in Georgia to be dismissed Thursday, citing “racial prejudice”.
Lawyers defending Trump against the 13 felony counts charged DA Fani Willis has made “extrajudicial public statements falsely and intentionally injecting race into this case.”
The legal maneuver came after Willis was accused by co-defendant Michael Roman of having an an inappropriate relationship with the special prosecutor she appointed to lead the case, Nathan Wade, and asked for the case against him to be dropped.
Willis then made a speech at a historically black church Martin Luther King Jr. celebration in which she claimed her critics were attacking her and Wade because they are people of color.
“I’m a little confused. I appointed three special counsel, as is my right to do,” Willis told the Big Bethel AME congregation. “They only attack one of them,” she said, without mentioning the defendants.
“Some will never see a black man as qualified, no matter his achievements.”
Trump’s lawyers referenced the speech in court filings Thursday, saying she had “violated her special responsibilities of a prosecutor under the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct.”
“Her attempt to foment racial animus and prejudice against the defendants in order to divert and deflect attention away from her alleged improprieties calls out for the sanctions of dismissal and disqualification,” Steve Sadow, lead defense counsel for President Trump in the Georgia case, wrote.
The motion was an attempt to hold Willis “legally accountable both for her misconduct alleged in a motion filed by Mr. Roman” and her alleged racially charged comments, lawyers told The Post.
Tensions have been heightened between the two camps after the DA’s office ignored multiple emails from Sadow last month, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.
On Dec. 27, Sadow reportedly wrote “PLEASE respond to my emails below.”
Executive District Attorney Daysha Young, who is black, responded on Jan. 10, two days after Roman’s motion was filed to criticize his tone, according to the outlet.
She reportedly admitted she thought some of Sadow’s emails were “not worthy of a response,” and said she and Willis were “both aware, especially as an African American woman, some find it difficult to treat us respectfully.”
Willis also piled on, writing: “In the legal community (and the world at large), some people will never be able to respect African Americans and/or women as their equal and counterpart.
“That is a burden you do not experience. Further, some are so used to doing it they are not even aware they are doing it while others are intentional in their continued disrespect.”
Roman alleged Willis and Wade have been engaged in a romantic relationship during the course of his employment by the DA’s office, during which time he has made over $650,000 in hourly fees working as a special prosecutor.
He then alleged Willis benefitted from his employment because he had used the money he was paid on leisure trips to California and the Caribbean. Credit card statements filed as part of his divorce showed he had purchased flights for them both as well as spending thousands on cruise ships.
In a video unearthed from 2020, Willis had vowed to fire any co-workers who slept together and said she would not date her subordinates.
The Trump team has called on a Fulton County Superior Court judge to disqualify Willis’s office from the case and drop the 13-count election interference indictment.
Trump and 14 other defendants are accused of lying about voter fraud and pressuring Georgia officials to reverse President Joe Biden’s electoral win in The Peach State. They have all pleaded not guilty.
Willis had not publicly spoken about the nature of her relationship with Wade, but has been ordered by a judge to file a response in writing by Feb. 2.
With Post wires
