2024-02-15 12:13:56 ET
Feb. 15 (UPI) -- A hearing is being held Thursday in Atlanta in an effort to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting the election subversion cases against Donald Trump and other defendants.
Ashleigh Merchant, the attorney representing Trump co-defendant Michael Roman, began questioning prosecutor Nathan Wade over his romantic relationship with Willis. Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has shot down some of Merchant's questions that have requested more personal details about their relationship, such as when they first spent the night together.
Wade testified that he and Willis have not cohabitated and that their relationship began around March 2022. He denied having a relationship with Willis or anyone else while he was married. When Merchant asked why he did not finalize his divorce until 2023, Wade explained that his marriage was "irretrievably broken" in 2015, but he wished to stay in the home while his children were in school.
Merchant moved on to questioning Wade about sharing finances with Willis, bank statements relating to trips they have taken together and a foray into the difference between statements and receipts.
Roman, a Republican political operative , filed a motion in January to have Willis and Wade removed from the case, alleging they have profited from their personal relationship and the prosecution of Trump and the other defendants.
"As the layers unfold, it becomes clear that the district attorney and the special prosecutor have been profiting personally from this prosecution at Fulton County's expense," Roman's motion reads.
Willis acknowledged that she and Wade are in a romantic relationship in a court filing responding to Roman's motion but said there is no conflict of interest. She goes on to allege the motion is meant to embarrass her personally.
"Roman seemingly anticipates a hearing that would last days, garner more breathless media coverage and intrude even further into the personal lives of the prosecution team in an effort to embarrass and harass the district attorney personally," Willis writes.
"This is not an example of zealous advocacy, nor is it a good faith effort to develop a record on a disputed legal issue-it is a ticket to the circus."
Roman, Trump and 17 others have pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges in their alleged effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Four of the defendants -- Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, Jena Ellis and Scott Hall -- have taken plea deals in exchange for testimony against the others.
Trump, who is running for re-election, has called the indictment politically motivated.
The former president appeared in court in New York on Thursday morning, where a judge set a March 25 date for his first criminal trial, involving hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels .
Trump is also charged in two federal cases, one over the handling of classified documents and another related to interference in the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.