Trump lawyers push for Fani Willis' disqualification, claiming she has fomented 'racial animus and prejudice'

Fani Willis' disastrous January is nearly at an end, but her troubles appear to be just getting started.

The Fulton County district attorney is expected to receive a subpoena to testify in court next month concerning accusations of misconduct and possible criminality, according to CNN.

The allegations Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee will take up at a hearing scheduled for Feb. 15 — and Willis may have to speak to — are also of interest to the Fulton County commissioner, Georgia congresswoman, and state senator who have recently called for investigations into possible wrongdoing on Willis' part.

Although her reputation and career are on the line, Willis' 2020 election interference case against former President Donald Trump is also at risk of crumbling.

Lawyers for Trump filed a request Thursday to disqualify Willis from prosecuting the Republican front-runner in Georgia. Trump's lawyers have built upon the previous motion to disqualify filed on behalf of his co-defendant, Michael Roman, and are now claiming Willis has fomented "racial animus and prejudice against the defendants."

Going through the motions

The Jan. 8 court motion to disqualify Willis, filed in the Superior Court of Fulton County on behalf of Roman, called out the Democratic DA for alleged misconduct and possible criminality, claiming she improperly appointed Nathan Wade, an inexperienced and married special counsel with whom she was apparently romantically involved. Despite Willis' later protestation in church, employment documents suggest she also paid Wade better than at least one other special counsel.

According to the motion, Wade allegedly used Fulton County funds received by his law firm and approved by Willis to pay for their extravagant international and domestic trips together. He has reportedly been paid over $650,000 in legal fees since January 2022.

Credit card statements recently exposed in Wade's divorce case revealed Nathan Wade paid Willis' way for joint getaways, including airline trips to Miami in October 2022 and to San Francisco in April 2023.

The motion suggested the arrangement between Wade and Willis was not only unethical but may have involved the commission of a federal crime prosecutable under the federal racketeering statute.

Another motion to disqualify

Lawyers for Trump have joined the effort to disqualify Willis, reiterating in a Thursday motion that the Black Panther's daughter created a conflict of interest by hiring her lover to help prosecute the case, reported the New York Times.

Trump's lawyers also suggested that Willis likely prejudiced prospective jurors against Trump and violated Georgia bar rules by claiming before a church full of people that criticism of her was animated by racism.

Willis told a congregation in Atlanta on Jan. 14 that those critical of Wade's appointment were "playing the race card."

"I'm a little confused. I appointed three special counselors. It's my right to do. Paid them all the same hourly rate. They only attacked one," said Willis. Documents reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation indicated Willis did not pay all three special counselors at the same rate.

The Democratic DA also painted herself as a victim of racism, stating, "[God,] you did not tell me as a woman of color it would not matter what I did. My motive, my talent, my ability, and my character would be constantly attacked."

The Thursday filing called Willis' comments "a glaring, flagrant and calculated effort to foment racial bias into this case by publicly denouncing the defendants for somehow daring to question her decision to hire a Black man."

According to the filing, Willis' remarks "engender a great likelihood of substantial prejudice towards the defendants in the eyes of the public in general, and prospective jurors in Fulton County in particular," reported USA Today.

Steve Sadow, Trump's lead defense counsel in the Georgia case, said, "The motion filed today on behalf of President Trump seeks to hold District Attorney Willis legally accountable both for her misconduct alleged in a motion filed by Mr. Roman, as well as her extrajudicial public statements falsely and intentionally injecting race into this case."

Willis has injected race into the case not only publicly but behind the scenes of the case.

Blaze News previously reported that Willis intimated in an email exchange last week that at least one of the defense lawyers in the Georgia election interference case was a racist, writing, "Some people will never be able to respect African Americans and/or women as their equal and counterpart."

"Her attempt to foment racial animus and prejudice against the defendants in order to divert and deflect attention away from her alleged improprieties calls out for the sanctions of dismissal and disqualification," said Sadow.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!