Georgia rep moves to impeach DA Fani Willis, accuses her of ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’
A Georgia lawmaker filed a resolution to impeach beleaguered Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Friday.
State Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Woodstock) said Willis is using her office “not for justice but for political gain” in her prosecution of former President Donald Trump and others over election interference.
In addition, the Georgia Senate on Friday voted to approve the formation of a committee to investigate potential wrongdoing on Willis’ part after her alleged affair with the special prosecutor appointed to oversee the Trump case emerged.
The panel will have the power to compel testimony from key witnesses and subpoena records.
Byrd accused Willis of violating the First Amendment by hunting down and indicting conservatives for scrutinizing the 2020 electoral results.
Diagnosing the DA with “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” Byrd also ripped Willis for a potential conflict of interest in light of her alleged relationship with Nathan Wade, who stands accused of using the funds the county paid him to take Willis on luxury romantic leisure trips.
Willis assigned Wade to the high-profile proceeding despite his limited legal resume and lack of experience with the complex RICO indictments being prosecuted.
Wade has been paid $654,000 for his work on the legal team, according to documents obtained by Trump co-defendant and former White House aide Michael Roman.
“Fani Willis has a laundry list of potential conflicts that make her unworthy and unfit to be the District Attorney in Fulton County,” Byrd said. “Someone elected to that office is expected to uphold the law and not weaponize their office for political gain. Since day one when she was elected, Fani Willis has embarrassed the criminal justice system in Fulton County and our state.”
Divorce filings by Wade’s now-estranged wife, Joycelyn, assert he and Willis had been carrying on an affair, including glitzy trips to San Francisco and Miami.
Roman filed a motion seeking to disqualify Willis’ office from the case and called for the case to be junked entirely. Trump’s lawyers have since signed on to that effort and yesterday accused Willis of “racial prejudice” in a filing seeking to have her removed from the case.
Meanwhile, sources told CNN that Willis, Nathan and others are expected to receive subpoenas to testify at a special hearing ordered by the judge handling the election interference cases.
A current and former law partner of Wade told the outlet they’ve already been told they’ll be called to the stand at some point.
“We’ve got a lot of information. We’ve got a lot of documents and a lot of witnesses,” Roman’s defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant told CNN.
Willis has stopped short of admitting to an affair, instead calling Wade a “friend” and legal “superstar,” but has been ordered by a judge to file an official response to the allegations in writing by Feb. 2.
Willis is likely to fight the subpoena, and has already sought to evade giving a deposition in Wade’s ongoing divorce case.
Wade filed for divorce from Joycelyn on Nov. 1, 2021 — just one day after he was hired by Willis.
