Topline
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis defended herself and maintained her criminal prosecution against former President Donald Trump would carry on undeterred in a Saturday interview with CNN—her first public comments since the revelation of her romantic relationship with prosecutor Nathan Wade threatened to upend her case against Trump and pushed Wade off the case.
Key Facts
When asked by CNN at an Easter egg hunt Saturday if she felt she needed to reclaim her reputation in the wake of the scandal, in which Willis to testified in court in her own defense, she said, “I don’t feel like my reputation needs to be reclaimed,” and added: “Let’s say it for the record, I’m not embarrassed by anything that I’ve done.”
She maintained that she’d done nothing illegal, arguing that her “greatest crime” was having a relationship, and adding: “That’s not something that I find embarrassing in any way.”
When asked whether the hearings on her relationship would delay her prosecution against Trump and his co-defendants in their election interference case, she said her team had been working on the case behind the scenes throughout the saga, adding: “I don’t feel like we’ve been slowed down at all.”
The interview comes two days after CNN cited three unnamed individuals familiar with Willis’ thinking to report Willis was planning on requesting a trial date in the case for as early as this summer, despite the nearly two-month delay prompted by revelation of her relationship with Wade.
Crucial Quote
“I do think that there are efforts to slow down the train, but the train is coming,” Willis said of her prosecution.
Chief Critic
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a Trump ally, reportedly asked the Georgia state bar association this week to disbar Willis over the relationship, according to Bloomberg. Her complaint reportedly faulted Judge Scott McAfee for failing to bar Willis from continuing to prosecute the case, Bloomberg reported.
Key Background
A Fulton County grand jury indicted Trump and 18 other co-defendants last year, alleging they’d improperly tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election—Trump has pleaded not guilty to those charges and has repeatedly accused Willis’ prosecution of being politically motivated. But the case took an unexpected turn earlier this year when one of Trump’s co-defendants, Michael Roman, sought to remove Willis from the case and exposed her relationship with Wade, a lead prosecutor on the case. Trump eventually joined Roman’s motion, claiming the relationship amounted to a conflict of interest. McAfee ruled after testimony that, while the relationship was a “tremendous lapse of judgment,” Trump and Roman’s legal teams failed to show an “actual conflict of interest.” McAfee ruled that either Willis or Wade would have to step down from the case, and Wade resigned shortly after.
Further Reading
