MSNBC legal correspondent Lisa Rubin said Monday that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis “absolutely” damaged the RICO case against former President Donald Trump.
Willis has been the subject of various hearings regarding her love affair with Nathan Wade, who she hired as special prosecutor in Trump’s Georgia election interference case.
During Rubin’s appearance on MSNBC, host Chris Jansings asked her whether she believed the allegations of misconduct against Willis had damaged the Trump prosecution.
“Absolutely. You know, it doesn’t take somebody who’s a mathematician to figure out that that’s already caused sizable delay in this case in and of itself,” Rubin told Jansings.
Defense attorney Ashley Merchant represents co-defendant Michael Roman, one of 18 aides and allies charged by a Georgia grand jury with conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. Merchant filed a motion on Jan. 8 to dismiss the indictment and disqualify Willis on the grounds that the DA gave attorney Nathan Wade a lucrative contract to work on the prosecution because of her romantic involvement with him. (RELATED: NBC Host Presses Dem Senator On Whether Fani Willis Should Step Down From Trump Case)
“But the damage to Fani Willis’ reputation, and to Nathan Wade’s reputation, and moreover, the possibility that they could be investigated by a state bar for being untruthful with the tribunal because they were both witnesses here. Those are still looming, and whether or not they are damaged in that way remains to be seen irrespective of what Judge McAfee does,” she continued.
Merchant testified Wednesday during a Georgia state Senate hearing that cell phone location data and communications between Willis and Wade appeared to show that the two were engaged in a romantic relationship before Willis hired Wade. Another witness, Co-Chief Deputy for the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office Cindi Lee Yeager, claimed that Wade’s former law partner, Terrence Bradley, told her that Willis and Wade had “definitely begun” their love affair in 2019.
Trump had his fingerprints and mug shot taken at the Fulton County Jail in Aug. 2023.