Trump accuses Fani Willis of a ‘calculated’ plot to ‘bias jurors against him’ in Georgia trial as her future in the case hangs in the balance

Lawyers for Donald Trump have accused Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis of playing the “race and religion card” in an attempt to influence the jury set to hear conspiracy charges against him in Georgia.

Trump attorney Stephen Sadow accuses Willis of “inexcusable” conduct in a new legal filing after joining explosive hearings over Willis’ speech to an Atlanta church over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

He accused her of “deliberately playing both the ‘race and religion card'” and accused her of unfairly attacking lawyers for Trump and his co-defendants. He made similar arguments orally in recent weeks during hearings on whether Willis should be disqualified from the cases following revelations about her affair with special counsel Nathan Wade.

Attorney Ashleigh Merchant testified before a Georgia Senate subcommittee on Wednesday, where she revealed that Wade, whom she appointed as top prosecutor, earned nearly double what other members of his team earned.

Fulton County prosecutors argued in court that defense attorneys must prove an actual conflict of interest, while attorneys argue that just the “appearance” of one conflict of interest is enough, after testimony and documents showed Willis and Wade went on luxury trips together .

Willis made similar arguments in his filings, which Sadow tried to refute in his own filing Tuesday.

“Our case involves far more heinous and inexcusable forms of forensic misconduct – deliberately inciting racial and religious prejudice against counsel and suspects, giving untruthful testimony under oath and committing fraud against the tribunal – in the prosecution of the suspects ‘ he wrote. the New York Post reported.

The dueling filings come as Judge Scott McAfee considers whether to ban Willis and Wade from the case.

Defense attorneys accuse Willis of being untruthful about the beginning of her relationship with Wade. Both Willis and Wade testified that it started in 2022, after Willis got him involved in the case.

The filing accused Willis of testifying “falsely” about the beginning of her “personal relationship” with Wade.

It refers to Willis’ speech at Big Bethel AME Church, where she referred to Wade as “a great friend and a great lawyer” immediately after the affair allegations were first raised in a legal filing.

She said two other special prosecutors in the case are white. “They only attacked one,” she said Atlanta Journal Constitution reported at the time.

“The first thing they say, ‘Oh, she’s going to play the race card now,’” Willis said. “But no God, isn’t it them playing the race card when they only question one? race card when they constantly think I need someone from another jurisdiction in another state to tell me how to do a job I’ve been doing for almost thirty years?’

Defense attorneys were angered by the suggestion of racism in court and accused Willis of using the speech to influence the potential jury pool in the sprawling case, which involves Trump and 18 indicted co-defendants.

“The issue we have addressed here about forensic misconduct is not just the church speech. That’s why she did it. How she did it,” Sadow said in court last week.

Judge McAfee showed some skepticism about the charges in court. “Assuming you can impugn someone’s character to an extent that constitutes forensic misconduct, why is that the case here?” he asked.

“The state’s main position was that they didn’t talk about you in church,” McAfee said.

News of the filing comes after an attorney alleged in explosive testimony that Will’s accuser Nathan Wade paid nearly double his colleagues’ salaries and met with Kamala Harris before she indicted Donald Trump.

Ashley Merchant, who first came forward with stunning allegations about Willis’ affair with special prosecutor Wade, testified at a hearing in the Georgia State Senate as a judge considered whether Willis should be disqualified from the Trump case.

The attorney for Trump co-defendant Michael Roman said Wade received more than $650,000 in invoices from Willis and left little information on his invoices, and that Willis is “the one approving the bills.”

She also testified about the 12,000 text messages that Wade and Willis exchanged before claiming they started their relationship.

Willis is in danger of being kicked out of the Trump trial over allegations that she started dating Wade before hiring him to investigate the former president.

The prosecutor has denied that the relationship was inappropriate and is now awaiting Judge Scott McAfee’s decision on whether she will be disqualified.

Attorney John Merchant speaks with his wife and co-counsel Ashleigh Merchant during the hearing on the Georgia election interference case

In her testimony on Wednesday, Merchant said there was “virtually zero” accountability in Wade’s billing, where he was paid $250 an hour.

Willis said in her own astonishing testimony last month that Wade took a pay cut from what he had billed as a private attorney before she brought him on to her team — in a move she said occurred before they began their romantic relationship.

The Republican Party-led panel is investigating Willis’ office as a judge decides whether she should be disqualified and recuse herself from racketeering charges against Donald Trump and 18 of his alleged co-conspirators in connection with his election efforts in the state.

Merchant has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Trump co-defendant Michael Roman calling for Willis to be kicked out of the case due to her “inappropriate” relationship with accuser Wade

She was testifying before a special Senate committee after receiving a subpoena.

Trader said there was “virtually zero” accountability in his bills. Records that Merchant produced previously showed that Wade received more than $650,000 in invoices for Willis’ office.

Wade testified that he sometimes did more work than he could bill for, and Willis testified that she appointed him as lead prosecutor after another preferred candidate declined to take the job.

In even more explosive testimony, Merchant said Willis met with Vice President Kamala Harris on February 28, 2023, during a trip to Washington, DC. Citing White House details, she said Democratic Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens was also in attendance.

The meeting raises questions about whether Trump’s prosecution was discussed, although Merchant did not provide any evidence that it did.

Trump and 18 co-defendants were charged on August 15 in an alleged “criminal enterprise” to overturn the election.

Willis (left) and her ex-boyfriend Wade (right) sit at the prosecutor’s table during closing arguments for her March 1 disqualification hearing

Ashleigh Merchant and her husband John represented Trump’s co-defendants at the disqualification hearing as they push for Willis to be kicked out of the case

On Wednesday, Merchant outlined her theory that Willis and Wade deliberately filed a complex case that allowed Wade to bill for more hours and potentially benefit himself and Wade.

She then faced questions about why Willis, who earns a salary of more than $200,000 a year, would participate in the expanded plan in exchange for vacations and trips worth several thousand.

Merchant represents Michael Roman, who was indicted as part of the effort to replace “fake voters” in a state carried by Joe Biden in 2020.

An evidentiary hearing included testimony about how Willis would reimburse Wade in cash for travel expenses to Napa Valley and other places.

Willis denounced the proceedings while speaking to reporters outside the Capitol, where she called it a “political quest.”

“People are angry because I’m going to do the right thing and stand up for justice,” she said. “They can continue with their games and I will continue to do the people’s work.”

State Sen. Harold V. Jones II (D) said the hearing on whether she should be disbarred measured whether there was “actual unfairness to the defendant” being charged.

“Can you point to any unfairness in the process that took place?” he asked Koopman.