Georgia attorney claimed vindication after a Fulton County judge issued a ruling in the disqualification proceedings against District Attorney Fani Willis. In an order 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. The decision came after the attorney, on behalf of her client Michael Roman, alleged that Willis had an 'improper' affair with Wade before hiring him to prosecute former President Trump and his 18 co-defendants in 2021.
The attorney stated that the court's opinion was a vindication that everything put forth by the defense was true, accurate, and relevant to the issues surrounding the client's right to a fair trial. The judge agreed with the defense that the actions of Willis showed poor judgment and posed a risk to the future of the case if not addressed promptly.
While the attorney did not agree with the suggested cure by the court, she expressed readiness to see the district attorney's response to the demands. Documents submitted to the court revealed that Willis and Wade had taken several trips together, and Wade's law firm had billed taxpayers $650,000 at a rate of $250 an hour since his hiring.
During the evidentiary hearing, witnesses testified that the couple had begun their affair in 2019 after meeting at a conference. The star witness for the defense, a former law partner and divorce attorney for Wade, faced questioning about his knowledge of the relationship. The judge ruled that there was an appearance of impropriety that required either Willis or Wade to be removed from the Trump case.
