Screenshot / YouTube, Law&Crime, Cropped by Resist the Mainstream

Georgia Attorney Ashleigh Merchant expressed vindication after a Fulton County judge issued a ruling in the disqualification proceedings against District Attorney Fani Willis.

On Friday, Judge Scott McAfee said that Willis must either withdraw herself and her team from the 2020 election interference case or remove Wade as special prosecutor. 

Merchant was instrumental in bringing the case against Wade, as she, on behalf of her client Michael Roman, first alleged that Willis had had an “improper” affair with Wade before hiring him to prosecute former President Trump and his 18 co-defendants in 2021. 

“While we believe the court should have disqualified Willis’ office entirely, this opinion is a vindication that everything put forth by the defense was true, accurate and relevant to the issues surrounding our client's right to a fair trial. The judge clearly agreed with the defense that the actions of Willis are a result of her poor judgment and that there is a risk to the future of this case if she doesn’t quickly work to cure her conflict,” Merchant said in a statement.

“While we do not agree that the court's suggested cure is adequate in response to the egregious conduct by the district attorney, we look forward to the district attorney's response to the demands by the court. We will continue to fight for our client,” she added.

Merchant was the first to allege in court filings that Willis had a conflict of interest in hiring Wade, her then-lover, to aid in prosecuting the election interference case. 

She claimed that Willis had financially benefited from the relationship, by taking vacations with Wade that he paid for entirely, whose firm was compensated by taxpayers for working the Trump case.

Willis and Wade took several trips together, and Wade’s law firm had billed taxpayers $650,000 at a rate of $250 an hour since his hiring, according to documents submitted by Merchant.  

Both Wade and Willis initially denied that they were in a romantic relationship at all, but eventually admitted to their relationship, maintaining that it began after Wade was hired. prior to his hiring. 

During a two-day evidentiary hearing in February, they each testified that they had split the cost of their shared trips. Willis told the court she reimbursed Wade for her share of the trips in cash.

During that same hearing, Merchant called witnesses who testified that the couple had begun their affair in 2019 after meeting at a conference.

Robin Yeartie, a former “good friend” of Willis and past employee at the DA's office, testified to observing Willis and Wade “hugging” and “kissing” and showing “affection” prior to November 2021 and said she had no doubt that the two had been in a “romantic” relationship starting in 2019 and lasting until she and Willis last spoke in 2022.

Additionally, Terrence Bradley, a former law partner and divorce attorney for Wade, was grilled by Merchant on the witness stand last month about what he knew and when he knew about their romance.

Bradley, when pressed under oath, said he could not recall several details and timelines about conversations he had with former client Wade about Wade's romantic relationship with Willis.

Merchant later referenced text messages between her and Bradley in which she had asked Bradley if he thought the relationship started before Willis hired Wade in 2021, to which Bradley responded “absolutely” in the text exchange.

In his order, McAfee said that Bradley’s “inconsistencies, demeanor, and generally non-responsive answers left far too brittle a foundation upon which to build any conclusions.”

“While prior inconsistent statements can be considered as substantive evidence under Georgia law, Bradley’s impeachment by text message did not establish the basis for which he claimed such sweeping knowledge of Wade’s personal affairs,” McAfee said.

He ruled that, although neither side had conclusively proved when the relationship began, there was “an appearance of impropriety” that required either Willis or Wade to be removed from the Trump case.