During a Sunday rally in Iowa, former President Donald Trump said he “can’t imagine” the Georgia election case against him moving forward amid the allegations that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is romantically linked with Nathan Wade, who she appointed as special prosecutor and paid more than $650,000 in taxpayer money.
In addition to the accusation Willis is engaged in an inappropriate relationship with Wade, she is also accused of hiring him without following proper procedure and financially benefiting from his compensation through luxurious vacations financed by the special prosecutor. The claims about their alleged relationship surfaced in a legal filing last week by Michael Roman, who is a co-defendant in Willis’ case against the former president.
In a rally held one day before the Iowa caucuses, Trump said Willis has “been exposed,” and called it a “beautiful thing.”
“Fani Willis, you saw that deal? Her boyfriend, she gave him a million bucks to go get Trump, right? Then they go on vacations, spending the million bucks, they’re going on cruise lines,” said Trump. He soon added, “The nice thing, it gets exposed eventually,” declaring it “a beautiful thing” when “the system works.”
Trump Criticizes Fani Willis Regarding 'Boyfriend' and 'Vacation' Claims During Iowa Event pic.twitter.com/5VpVOXrrAA
— Chris (@inventor_chr) January 15, 2024
The former president added, “I can’t imagine they can continue on with that case.”
Trump noted that the special grand jury summoned by Willis to examine whether to indict Trump forwarded suggestions to indict more than the original defendants, including sitting U.S. Senators, referencing their desire to indict Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
While Willis declined the indictment, the grand jury which received instruction and information from her also recommended indicting Lt. Governor Burt Jones (R), who Willis was legally barred from prosecuting.
“They had a list of people they wanted to indict, like 48 people, and these are patriots,” argued Trump. “These are sick people, and then they find out it’s a fraud, and she’s filtering money to her boyfriend, and I mean big money.”
Calling his criminal indictments “a great badge of honor,” Trump argued, “I’m being indicted for you. I never even think about it in any other way.” The former president added, “They want to silence me, because I will never let them silence you.”
Trump’s greater remarks about his criminal cases warned of further “weaponization of law enforcement against Republicans,” and Trump offered the anecdote about Willis and her alleged entanglement with Wade as evidence of its danger.
“Remember, the advantage I have is that when they indict me, I can explain to people, because I have a big audience, and I can explain.” Trump added, “If I’m a Congressman or even a Senator and I get a subpoena to go to a grand jury? You’re dead, politically you’re dead.”
Both a criminal referral and an official complaint with the Georgia State Bar were filed against Willis last week.
Willis broke her silence over the allegations on Sunday, when she delivered a “letter to God” from the pulpit of a Baptist church in Atlanta. Though Willis repeatedly asked God for forgiveness for her shortcomings, she also claimed the allegations levied against her and Wade are motivated by racism.
Watch Trump’s full remarks about Willis (beginning at about 1 hour):
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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 “Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore CC2.0 and “Willis and Wade in Court” by Judge Scott McAffee.
