Multiple legal analysts suggest that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could potentially be charged with perjury for her sworn testimony regarding a relationship she had with a special prosecutor.
Willis claimed under oath that she only began dating Nathan Wade after Donald Trump’s indictment, but the former president’s legal team asserts they can disprove this with phone records.
Newsweek reached out for comments from both Willis’ office and Trump’s attorneys.
Donald Trump, along with eighteen others, is facing accusations of conspiring to overturn Joe Biden’s election win in Georgia in 2020 as he emerges as the likely Republican presidential nominee.
Trump has consistently argued that the case is politically motivated while pleading not guilty to all charges.
Legal experts interviewed by Newsweek have raised concerns about the credibility of Willis’ testimony.
Eric Anderson, an attorney at Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae in Los Angeles, California, suggests that Democrat Willis may potentially face perjury charges from Georgia Attorney General Christopher Carr.
“Given the political climate, I would not be completely surprised if the attorney general, a Republican, acts. Attorney General Carr has shown a willingness to take on elected officials in criminal proceedings before,” Anderson said.
“When it comes to politics, anything is possible. Unless the alleged perjury is about a fact material to the matter at hand, perjury charges are not likely for a regular witness,” Anderson added.
Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University, told Newsweek that Trump’s lawyers want “to shift the question before the court from disqualification to perjury.”
“The judge should focus on the real disqualification question here. Is there any basis to find that Willis chose to pursue the case to generate income for Wade, which he would then use to take her on luxury trips?” Gillers added.
“The answer is no. Willis started her investigation in February 2021 and did not hire Wade, who was not her first choice, until nine months later. She got an indictment and four guilty pleas,” Gillers said.
“Her successes so far rebut any suggestion that she brought or continued the case to generate fees for Wade. To the contrary, her successes so far tell us she did so because in fact it is a meritorious case,” Gillers added.
During sworn testimony, Willis claimed that she did not begin a romantic relationship with Wade until she assigned him to the Trump case.
However, the former president has obtained Wade’s phone records and hired a tech specialist to show that he had visited Willis’ residence prior to the election fraud investigation.
Trump’s legal team is also seeking more information about the lavish trips taken by Wade and Willis together.
The judge will now decide whether Willis and Wade can continue their work on the Trump election fraud case. According to Syracuse University law professor Greg Germain, there may be perjury charges against the district attorney.
“Willis could certainly be charged with perjury if a prosecutor can prove that Willis knowingly lied under oath. The matter would have to be referred to a prosecutor, presumably from another DA office, or state or federal prosecutor, to bring the charges. It is not common for people to be charged with perjury for lying under oath about a personal relationship, but it certainly has happened in high-profile cases, like Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinski. So yes, a perjury prosecution is possible,” Germain said.
Judge Scott McAfee oversaw multiple hearings to determine whether to disqualify Willis and her office from the Trump case.
Trump and some co-defendants argued for their removal due to a perceived conflict of interest, pushing for the case’s dismissal.
Willis and Wade deny any financial gain from their relationship, which began in spring 2022 when Willis hired Wade. The hearings are set to resume on Tuesday for McAfee to make a decision on Willis’s involvement in the case.
To support claims that prosecutor Nathan Wade had a pre-existing connection with Willis before his appointment, Trump’s legal team utilized phone records analysis.
They aim to prove that Willis appointed Wade based on their romantic involvement and assert that she should recuse herself from the Trump case
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Gillars comments rely on the reality that most folks don’t know all the ins-and-outs of process and the rest. Fani brought the case to gain fame while she was engaged in problematical behavior with a subordinate. What is said about glass houses? I’d like to see this entitled incompetent disbarred.
Nonsense, the judiciary is no longer ran by the written laws and protocol. Fanny and her boyfriend are from the DEI community, and as such will not be expected to follow the rules and the law, that is the new state of justice in the United States. Double, triple and quadruple standards of political correctness justice!
Which is NO justice at all!
Given what we’ve seen of Willis’ character, behavior, disrespect for the court and law, and lack of ethics, as a law-abiding citizen would you want her anywhere near the D. A.’s office–much less running it?
She has not only disqualified herself from this case but ANY case ever.
We know these charges are political with blessing from the Biden administration. If there is not bias and other conflicts of interest it appears as such and should be disqualified from the case along with Wade. This is all a political ploy to keep President Trump from regaining the Presidency. Fact prove that President is the rightful winner of the presidency in the 2020 election and if election integrity is not established and the people are allowed to determine who the president going to be then our country has become a third world country. I have never saw our country in such Deseri in my 72 years. This is a must election to put our country back in order with the constitution and make the office of the president the most important office that can be held and not one where the president can be blackmailed and afraid of charges once he leave office. These acts by the Biden administration and the Democrats has to stop and start governing by the constitution and not their own desires. Their disregard for the constitution is destroying our country for future generations and leaving them with debt that will not be able to be repaid.
It’s time to start locking up all these black corrupt criminals officials who think because they are black they get a free ride.
This sh-t got to stop she cost taxpayers millions of dollars on a bogus indictment just to boost her career. She should be stripped of all benefits and license to practice law for ever and be put in jail for perjury. She lie to everyone to cover her ass and got caught and then played the race card. She definitely knows better but didn’t care knowing she would get away with anything she did. It’s time to take these corrupt criminals out of circulation. Fat Fanny you’re done. You make a mockery of the black community