Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis addressed the allegations against her Sunday at a church in Atlanta.
During the service, Willis, emotional and passionate, spoke for the first time about the affair allegations brought against her last week. The DA also defended the special prosecutor she brought in for the election interference case against Donald Trump.
“I hope for y’all this week I don’t look like what I’ve been through,” she joked as she addressed the congregation at the Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church during a service to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
One of former President Trump’s co-defendants in the case is seeking to dismiss the indictment against him as well as disqualify DA Willis, alleging she “engaged in a personal, romantic relationship” with one of the top prosecutors she called in to work on the case, which allegedly resulted in financial gain for both of them, ABC News reported.
In the court filing Monday, former Trump campaign staff member Michael Roman claimed Willis potentially committed “an act to defraud the public of honest services” based on her “intentional failure” to disclose the alleged relationship that she allegedly “personally benefitted from.”
The filing from Roman’s attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, alleged the prosecutor, Nathan Wade, has a “lack of relevant experience” but has been paid approximately $650,000 in legal fees since his appointment, which the filing claims was a “self-serving arrangement.”
Trump’s attorney said in court on Friday that they’re considering joining in the complaint against Willis.
During her speech Sunday, Willis repeatedly referred to herself as “flawed” and “imperfect.”
Willis called Wade a “great friend” and said he was paid equally to others while extensively defending his “impeccable credentials” for the job. She also seemed to suggest the attacks on him were motivated by race.
“I appointed three special counselors. It’s my right to do. Paid them all the same hourly rate,” Willis said. “They only attack one. I hired one white woman: a good personal friend and great lawyer, a superstar, I tell you. I hired one white man: brilliant, my friend, and a great lawyer. And I hired one Black man, another superstar, a great friend, and a great lawyer.”
Willis never denied or directly addressed the allegations she and Wade had an inappropriate relationship.
Willis talked for more than 30 minutes Sunday and took time to discuss the difficulties she has faced in her position as Fulton County DA and prosecuting the Trump case. She spoke about feeling “isolation,” “loneliness,” “backstabbing” and facing constant death threats that have forced her out of her home.
“I am tired of being treated cruelly,” she said.
Willis read a letter she said she wrote to God this week in which she said she felt “unworthy” of the job: “Lord, even right now, I continue to feel unworthy of the honor,” she said as she read the letter while appearing to get choked up.
“A divorced single mom who doesn’t belong to the right social groups. Doesn’t necessarily come from the right family. Doesn’t have the right pedigree. The assignment was just too high for lowly me,” Willis added.
She says she and her family have been “threatened so regularly, I now think it’s not normal if I don’t have two death threats a week.”
“They call me the N-word more than they call me Fani,” she said while noting that her home has been swept “multiple times for bombs.”
Willis also specifically called out Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
“I never want to be like those who attack me. I never want to be like Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has never met me but has allowed her spirit to be filled with hate,” she said.
Despite the challenges, Willis praised the accomplishments of her team, saying they have “wins, wins, wins” and a 95% conviction rate.
“I thank you for every attack that makes me stronger,” she said.
DA Fanni Willis, who corruptly appointed her extramarital lover to prosecute Trump and misused taxpayer funds, boldly stated that her actions should be excused because “you cannot expect black women to be perfect and save the world.”
What does being black have to do with… pic.twitter.com/fJE69V7cHz
— Armstrong Williams 🇺🇸 (@Arightside) January 15, 2024
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