The defense attorney who originally unearthed the revelation that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was romantically linked with special prosecutor Nathan Wade appeared before the Georgia State Senate on Wednesday to share her knowledge with a committee created to investigate Willis’ actions.
Merchant detailed how she learned of the relationship between Willis and Wade, whom the district attorney appointed to prosecute the Georgia election case against former President Donald Trump, and explained she learned of a meeting between Willis and Vice President Kamala Harris during her investigation.
“I did an open records for the White House access, and we have records that Ms. Willis and the Mayor of Atlanta were at a meeting with the Vice President,” Merchant told the Georgia State Senate.
The logs obtained by Merchant show the meeting occurred on February 28, 2023.
Why was Fani Willis meeting with VP Kamala Harris before the indictment? pic.twitter.com/oeo5CBgBJs
— Lauren3ve (@Lauren3veMemes) March 6, 2024
Merchant is the defense attorney for Michael Roman, a former Trump administration opposition researcher indicted alongside the former president in Willis’ election racketeering case.
Earlier in her testimony, Merchant explained how she retrieved the text messages she exchanged with Terrence Bradley, the former law partner to Wade.
Though he later testified he was only speculating, Bradley texted Merchant extensively in what she claims was a bid to help her prepare her legal filings against Willis.
Referring to text messages that appear to show Merchant and Bradley collaborating on a legal filing, she explained, “These are things that he had told me. I sent him a copy of the motion that weekend, I wanted him to review it.”
She added, “He responded that everything looked good,” and “he wanted me to make some changes, because I had not included the information about how much money he had received, I only included the money Wade had received.”
Merchant also testified that Bradley “did not want” Willis or Wade to learn he was helping her client, Roman.
ASHLEIGH MERCHANT TESTIFIES pic.twitter.com/yBLkoWShL4
— 🇺🇸⭐️OUR-VOICES⭐️🇺🇸 (@iswho) March 6, 2024
Both Willis and Wade testified separately that their relationship began in early 2022 after she appointed him as special prosecutor, but the text messages Bradley claimed in text messages to Merchant their relationship began as early as 2019. He later testified these text messages were only speculation.
Since his testimony, two witnesses have come forward offering to testify that Bradley told them Willis and Wade were in a relationship before early 2022.
Merchant also told the senators how she learned Willis was in a relationship with Wade.
“We met for about an hour,” she explained. “He said they had been together, they met at this conference, Nathan was still married. Mr. Bradley was upset because of what happened in the divorce. They were still married, and he essentially just left her after meeting Ms. Willis and dropping the kids off at college.”
🚨GA Senate hearing on Fani Willis-
Ashleigh Merchant is incredible. Listen to how she learned Wade and Willis were actually having a romantic relationship. Bradley spilled the tea. And don’t skip the end about the publicly funded media monitoring and brand management. Brand.… pic.twitter.com/Z25MCxCIaj
— Tracy Beanz (@tracybeanz) March 6, 2024
The Georgia State Senate successfully created a committee to investigate Willis’ behavior after a legal filing by Roman, written by Merchant, revealed the existence of a relationship between Willis and Wade.
Multiple defendants now argue that Willis should be dismissed from the case because she financially benefited from the appointment of Wade, who has received more than $650,000 from Fulton County taxpayers. After being appointed special prosecutor, Wade used his company credit card to purchase luxurious vacations he shared with Willis.
Willis and Wade separately testified that she repaid him in thousands of dollars of unrecorded cash transactions and by paying for incidental and entertainment expenses during their travels.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee is considering whether Willis should be disqualified from the case and stated that he was likely to decide by March 15.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Fani Willis” by Fani Willis. Photo “Kamala Harris” by Kamala Harris.
