The top Georgia prosecutor in the election case against former President Donald Trump is trying to avoid testifying in another case.
Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis reportedly filed a motion Thursday to bypass the subpoena calling for her testimony in the divorce case of Nathan Wade, the prosecutor she hired in the Trump case and with whom she is accused of having a romantic relationship.
“On Thursday, Ms. Willis responded with a filing stating that she ‘lacks personal knowledge of any matter that is relevant’ to the divorce. She did not directly acknowledge the allegation, but said there was no reason for her to testify because both Mr. Wade and his wife had declared their marriage to be ‘irretrievably broken,'” The New York Times reported.
A court filing last week by Michael Roman, one of Trump’s co-defendants in the criminal case, accused Willis of having a romantic relationship with Wade, thereby creating a conflict of interest.
“It is well-established that when both parties in a divorce proceeding assert that a marriage is irretrievably broken, which is a legal conclusion signifying that there is no hope for reconciliation, there is no genuine issue of fact that remains to be decided concerning the divorce,” Willis’ lawyer Cinque Axam wrote in Thursday’s motion.
Fulton County DA Fani Willis moves to quash a subpoena for her testimony in divorce proceedings of special prosecutor Nathan Wade, with whom she is accused of having an “improper” relationship that amounts to a “conflict of interest.”
Read the filing: https://t.co/W4IG0Stbaq
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) January 18, 2024
The filing also claimed that the team representing Wade’s estranged wife, Jocelyn Wade “conspired” with “interested parties” in Trump’s case “to annoy, embarrass, and oppress” Willis.
“It noted that Ms. Willis had been subpoenaed around the same time that Mr. Roman’s lawyer, Ashleigh Merchant, filed motions seeking to unseal the divorce records and, in the Trump case, to remove the two prosecutors,” The Times noted.
“Ms. Willis alleges that her deposition is being sought in an attempt to harass and damage her professional reputation. Why would her truthful testimony risk damaging her reputation?” Merchant reportedly said in a text message.
On the same day Roman filed the motion, Nathan Wade’s estranged wife, Jocelyn, sought to subpoena Willis to sit for a deposition in the divorce case.
In her motion to quash, Willis says that Jocelyn Wade “conspired” with interested parties to “annoy, embarrass, and oppress.” pic.twitter.com/LAG2VH7UTq
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) January 18, 2024
A hearing to examine the allegations has been set for Feb. 15 by Judge Scott McAfee who is overseeing the case against Trump. He ordered Willis “to file a written response to the motion by Feb. 2 and to appear at the hearing, which will be televised just as all the proceedings in the case have been,” according to The Times.
In a statement, Jocelyn Wade’s team says that they any response to Willis’s motion to quash the subpoena will come in the form of a court filing.
Wade’s divorce filings are currently under seal, but a Cobb County judge set a hearing for Jan. 31 to consider requests to unseal. pic.twitter.com/ynZAaRrNjV
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) January 18, 2024
Meanwhile, a Jan. 31 date has been set in Cobb County, Ga., for a hearing on unsealing the divorce files.
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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