Fani Willis Allegedly ‘Stonewalling’ Defense Team, Refused Open Records Requests for Invoices, Contracts, Account of Vacation Time

Fani Willis

The Merchant Law Firm, which represents defendant Michael Roman, launched a lawsuit on Monday claiming Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, through her office, is “stonewalling” their defense team by refusing to comply with public records requests for invoices from special prosecutor Nathan Wade, contracts for other contracted prosecutors in her office, and an account of her vacation time.

Roman is a defendant in Willis’ case against former President Donald Trump, and the law firm behind the lawsuit claims Willis’ office continues to slow-walk the release of information that was originally requested by his attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, on September 1, 2023.

Merchant is the attorney who made the January filing in Roman’s case, which accused Willis of being in a romantic affair with Wade, whom she appointed, and receiving material benefits from his appointment in the form of luxurious vacations and other gifts.

The lawsuit reveals that, before making the allegations about Wade and Willis in the January court filing, Merchant was seeking detailed information about Willis’ office and still had not received all of the information she requested.

Specific information Merchant seeks includes invoices sent by Wade spanning July 2023 through December 2023. The filing notes show that Wade was paid for these months despite the invoices being unavailable to the public.

CASE

Merchant also sought contracts and invoices for other special prosecutors hired by Willis. In her “Letter to God” message delivered from the pulpit of an Atlanta church after the allegations against her surfaced, Willis claimed she paid Wade the same hourly rate as the other special prosecutors she retained for the case.

Wade has earned more than $650,000 since Willis appointed him to work on her case against Trump, and credit card statements obtained through Wade’s divorce reveal he bought plane tickets for him and Willis to travel to popular travel destinations.

Roman’s latest filing suggests Willis is refusing to comply with the public records requests as retaliation for his motion to dismiss the case against him, citing the alleged affair between her and Wade.

The attorneys claim the documents “were intentionally withheld” by Willis’ office “because undersigned counsel filed a motion to disqualify Willis and Wade and there has been considerable news coverage for the financial arrangements between Willis and Wade.”

According to the lawyers, their most recent response from Willis’ office “confirms that the stonewalling continues.”

The new claim Willis is refusing to comply with open records requests came as audio surfaced of a conversation between the district attorney and a whistleblower she later fired.

Willis claimed the whistleblower was fired due to incompetence, but the whistleblower claimed she was fired as retribution for objecting to a plan by the district attorney’s subordinate to use federal grant money on computers, travel, and “swag” for his colleagues.

The embattled district attorney currently faces criminal referrals, a complaint with the State Bar of Georgia, a request for answers from the Fulton County Audit Committee, and an investigation from a newly formed committee in the Georgia State Senate.

She has reportedly been subpoenaed to testify alongside Wade and other office members in a February 15 hearing. Also, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ordered Willis to respond to Roman’s claims by Friday.

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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 Fulton County District Attorney’s Office.

 

 

 

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