Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was in a "personal relationship" with an outside prosecutor she hired to oversee the Georgia case against former President Donald Trump and multiple other co-defendants.
Court documents filed Friday reveal Nathan Wade said in an affidavit that he and Willis developed a personal relationship in 2022.
The revelation could present a problem for the prosecution.
House Republicans subpoena Trump prosecutor Fani Willis
The subpoena comes amid allegations that Willis had an improper relationship with a special prosecutor in her office.
The relationship with Wade was first made public by Michael Roman, a former Trump campaign official charged in the fake electors’ scheme.
He alleged in court documents that Willis was in a "romantic" relationship with Wade, who received over $600,000 as a special prosecutor aiding her office's extensive investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn the election.
In the court documents, Willis responded to claims that the relationship with Wade would impact her ability to oversee the case.
"A conflicted prosecutor presents a risk that he or she will disregard public interest for personal benefit. No circumstances alleged by any of these Defendants even approach that threshold, let alone cross it. And the accusations brought to this Court by these Defendants on the flimsiest of factual support may cause a reasonable person to wonder the defendants' motivation is more tactical than legal."
Willis hired Wade in November 2021 to help her in the investigation into allegations that Trump and others broke laws in an alleged attempt to overturn the former Republican president's loss in Georgia during the 2020 presidential election.
Trump and 18 other co-defendants were indicted in August, with Wade overseeing the team of attorneys put together by Willis for the prosecution.
Wade has said both he and Willis are financially independent professionals and said they've never lived together or shared a financial account or household expenses. Wade did say that he and Willis "roughly divided equally" their expenses and personal travel.
Wade said he "made and purchased travel for District Attorney Willis" and himself from his "personal funds," and said, "At other times District Attorney Willis has made and purchased travel for she and I from her personal funds."
The Friday filing was in response to a motion filed by one of Trump's defense attorneys, Ashleigh Merchant, last month alleging Willis and Wade were in an inappropriate romantic relationship that is a conflict of interest.
Trump's lawyers and seeking to dismiss the case and trying to have Willis and Wade, along with their offices, barred from further prosecuting the case.
