The Georgia criminal defense attorney who alleged an “improper” relationship between Fani Willis and Nathan Wade called out the Fulton County District Attorney over a speech she made claiming “Jesus” told her to prosecute Trump.
Ashleigh Merchant, who filed a bombshell motion alleging Willis’ relationship with Wade, whom she appointed special prosecutor on the case, appeared on Megyn Kelly’s show Tuesday where she told the host that she “still [hasn’t] gotten over the church remarks.”
“When someone says that Jesus himself told them to prosecute this case, how do you defend against that?… That’s insane. I’ve never dealt with that… Nobody says this. This doesn’t happen. People don’t take to the pulpit,” Merchant told Kelly.
Merchant filed the suit against Willis on behalf of her client, GOP political operative Mike Roman.
Roman and others including former President Donald Trump have been charged in a racketeering case for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Merchant had demanded that the charges against Roman be dropped.
Wade has since resigned from the case following Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee’s ruling that demanded either he or Willis had to resign to proceed with the case.
Willis made the speech in January at Atlanta’s Big Bethel AME Church, claiming the backlash against him and Wade was racially motivated because they were both black. McAfee slammed Willis’ speech in his latest ruling, saying she had been “playing the race card.”
McAfee previously said Willis’ church comments were “legally improper” and threatened to gag her from speaking.
Merchant told Kelly that Willis’ use of race as “an issue in discussing her detractors” was nothing surprising, saying “she has liked that most of her career.”
“She’s known me for 20 years. She knows I’m not racist. She knows that I’m not all of those things. So it did surprise me that she had those personal attacks… She’s known me for so long,” Merchant said.
Merchant also spoke of the witnesses Terrence Bradley, Wade’s former law partner and one-time divorce attorney, and Robin Yeartie, former DA’s office employee, who knew of Willis’ affair.
“I was surprised that he dismissed her because I thought she was by far the most credible witness that took the stand,” Merchant said.
What to know about District Attorney Fani Willis’ trial
- Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis is being accused of misusing state and federal funds, and also involved in an “improper” relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
- Willis admitted to having a “personal relationship” with Wade, but said it didn’t become romantic until after 2022 due to the case against former President Donald Trump.
- Willis hired Wade to work on the Trump case and paid him $654,000 in 2022, according to Trump co-defendant Michael Roman.
- Trump and his co-defendants are looking to disqualify Willis from the case and to have all charges, centered around the state’s expansive anti-racketeering RICO law, dismissed.
- The defense has presented dozens of pings from Wade’s cellphone that placed it at Willis’ rented condo prior to 2022. A former friend of Willis, who owned the condo, has claimed that he saw the two of them “hugging” and “kissing” in 2019.
- On March 15, a judge ruled Willis could stay on and prosecute the Georgia election interference case against Trump and his co-defendants for allegedly trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election — if Wade steps aside.
She also explained that Yeartie hired a lawyer who she said was a “supporter” of Willis’ campaign and was “literally on” her campaign flyers.
“With Robin she was very hesitant to come forward…She had a lawyer who filed a motion to quash and re-litigate that right before she testified. “That lawyer who was a very pleasant and wonderful person is a Fani Willis supporter… All of the lawyers who did these motions to quash, you see their names on her campaign flyers regularly,” Merchant said.
In Bradley’s testimony, he repeatedly denied knowing of the relationship, which “shocked” Merchant, he said, adding it seemed he was trying to protect his law license.
“I’m still shocked when I look back at it, looking at him. “But I can tell from his testimony when he looked at me with his eyes and when he looked at me and said I’m trying to save my law license that was one of the only times he directly looked at me during his testimony,” Merchant said.
“And I think that was him telling me like, ‘I’m sorry, but I’m trying to save my law license here’… But it was disappointing because he came to me and he knew my role in the case. He knew that I represented one of the defendants in this case,” Merchant said.
“He knew I represented Mr. Roman and so he came to me and initiated this contact. But I know Terrence, and I knew Terrence, and I very much liked Terrence as a colleague, a professional colleague and a friend… It disappointed me greatly… I think you could even see my demeanor switch at that point from ‘Hey, Terrence is my friend’ to ‘Terrence is someone who lied to me and is lying on the stand.’”
Trump’s defense team has filed a motion to dismiss the case and to have Willis disqualified from the Georgia election fraud case.
