(Georgia Recorder) — The defense attorney who filed the motion in January seeking to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the sweeping Trump 2020 presidential election interference case testified Wednesday before a state Senate committee about how she uncovered an affair between the DA and a special prosecutor.
Ashleigh Merchant testified Wednesday before a Senate Special Committee on Investigations that she began requesting open records about Nathan Wade’s contract with Fulton County DA’s office and other details surrounding his November 2021 appointment by Willis shortly after Merchant was hired in August to represent Michael Roman in the election interference case.
In January, the Marietta attorney filed a complaint seeking Willis’ disqualification from the felony racketeering and conspiracy case against Donald Trump and co-defendants. Trump attorney Steve Sadow joined and several other co-defendants would join Merchant’s claim that Willis engaged in prosecutorial misconduct by having a romantic relationship with the attorney she hired to investigate the case.
Merchant testified Wednesday that Terrence Bradley, Wade’s former law partner and divorce lawyer, informed her about Wade and Willis’ affair in September while they were working on separate cases at the Cobb County courthouse.
Bradley was upset that Wade had asked the prosecutor’s longtime wife for a divorce after meeting Willis at a judicial conference while both were municipal court judges in October 2019, Merchant said.
Merchant said Bradley would review the timelines and confirm other details about Wade and Willis before she filed the motion against Willis in January. Bradley grew worried as people associated with Wills and Wade began questioning whether he was the unnamed source cited by Merchant, she testified.
“He was upset because they were still married and (Wade) essentially just left her after meeting Ms. Willis and dropping the kids off…
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