Katelynn Richardson on January 25, 2024 (Daily Caller News Foundation)
Former President Donald Trump moved Thursday to adopt a co-defendant’s motion to dismiss the Georgia racketeering case and disqualify District Attorney Fani Willis for alleged misconduct.
Co-defendant Michael Roman claimed in a Jan. 8 motion that Willis awarded a “lucrative” contract to her alleged lover, special prosecutor Nathan Wade, that she benefited from when he took her on vacations using funds earned from his position. Trump’s attorneys noted in the filing Thursday to adopt Roman’s motion that Willis’ speech given at Big Bethel AME Church following the allegations was a “glaring, flagrant, and calculated effort to foment racial bias into this case.”
“The awesome power to prosecute ought never to be manipulated for personal or political profit,” the motion states. “In addition to the extensive misconduct alleged in Roman’s motion, the DA did just that in her speech by wrongfully inserting racial animus into this case to publicly denounce and rebuke the defendants, and to defend her personal and political reputation against the numerous and diverse allegations Roman made in his court filing.”
“The DA’s provocative and inflammatory extrajudicial racial comments, made in a widely publicized speech at a historical Black church in Atlanta, and cloaked in repeated references to God, reinforce and amplify the ‘appearance of impropriety’ in her judgment and prosecutorial conduct,” it continues.
During her speech, Willis also falsely claimed that she paid all three special prosecutors on the case the same hourly rate. John Floyd, the attorney known as Georgia’s top racketeering expert, was only paid $200 as recently as May 2023, while Wade was paid $250 an hour, according to billing statements and contracts obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“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,” Steve Sadow, lead defense counsel for President Trump, said in a statement provided to the DCNF. “In doing so, DA Willis violated her Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor under the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct.”
“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,” Sadow continued.
Bank statements included in a recent court filing in Wade’s divorce case revealed he purchased airline tickets in Willis’ name to Miami and San Francisco.
