ATLANTA (AP) — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and a special prosecutor she hired for the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump have been issued subpoenas by a defense attorney who has alleged Willis and the prosecutor had an inappropriate romantic relationship.
Lawyer Ashleigh Merchant, who represents Trump co-defendant Michael Roman, filed a motion Jan. 8 seeking to dismiss the indictment and to remove Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade from the case.
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Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who’s presiding over the election case, has ordered Willis’ team to respond by Friday to the motion and to remove Willis from the prosecution. He has set a hearing on the matter for Feb. 15. Merchant confirmed that she has subpoenaed both Willis and Wade to testify at that hearing.
Merchant’s law firm also filed a lawsuit Tuesday accusing Willis’ office of failing to comply with the Georgia Open Records Act, saying they “appear to be intentionally withholding information” that she has requested. Merchant had to repeatedly file certain requests after they were prematurely closed and she was incorrectly told certain records did not exist, the lawsuit says.
Willis spokesperson Jeff DiSantis declined to comment on the subpoenas, but disputed Merchant’s open records claims.
“We’ve provided her with the information she’s entitled to,” he said, adding that some of the records are still being compiled. He provided a letter that the office sent to Merchant last week providing an update on the status of requests she’d made, as well as screenshots showing that Merchant had accessed some records.
The lawsuit says that despite sending that letter, the district attorney’s office “failed nonetheless to provide most of the requested documents.”
Neither Willis nor Wade has publicly addressed the allegations of an inappropriate relationship. Willis’ office has repeatedly said a…
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