The lawyer prosecuting Donald Trump and 18 of his accomplices for allegedly trying to steal the election in Georgia has one more hurdle to overcome.
Scandal-plagued Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could already be kicked off the case over her relationship with a lawyer she hired to help run the case.
Now she could lose her job entirely as two Atlanta attorneys have to invite her before the district attorney’s office hours before the filing deadline.
Republican Courtney Kramer, who worked in the White House under Trump, and Democrat Christian Wise Smith threw their hats into the ring on Friday.
Scandal-plagued Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could already be kicked off the case over her relationship with a lawyer she hired to help run the case (pictured during hearings this week)
The top two vote-getters in the May 21 primary, regardless of party, will face each other in a runoff in November, so Fani will have to start campaigning right away.
Kramer faces an uphill battle in the deeply Democratic county, and Smith unsuccessfully ran against Willis when she was elected in 2020.
Fani has spent the past week in court defending herself against attempts to remove her from the Trump case over her relationship with Nathan Wade.
Her opponents accused her of a conflict of interest in hiring her lover, who is going through divorce proceedings, as a highly paid special prosecutor.
Defense attorneys claimed Willis was untruthful about the beginning of her relationship with Wade. Both Willis and Wade testified that it started in 2022, after Willis had already involved him in the case.
Fani denied that the relationship was inappropriate and will spend the next two weeks awaiting Judge Scott McAfee’s decision on whether she will be disqualified from the case.
If she is dismissed from the case, it could delay Trump’s election fraud case in Georgia for months and even lead to charges being dropped.
Willis denounced the proceedings while speaking to reporters outside the Capitol, where she called it a “political quest.”
“People are angry because I’m going to do the right thing and stand up for justice,” she said. “They can continue with their games and I will continue to do the people’s work.”
Democrat Christian Wise Smith filed Friday to challenge Willis in the May 21 primary for Fulton County district attorney
Republican Courtney Kramer, who served in the White House under Trump, is also a challenge but faces an uphill battle in the deeply Democratic district
Defense attorneys said bombshell evidence showed she lied about when she started dating Wade, and accused her of playing the “race card” when she said the charges against her were politically motivated.
Lawyers kicked off closing arguments Friday after a series of successful court hearings in which Willis testified there was nothing improper about her relationship with Wade and defended her need to pay for their lavish trips abroad in cash.
Smith suggested his candidacy could be more a result of Fani being kicked out of the Trump case.
“I will reserve my comments (on her current situation) until after we know more,” he shared CNN.
‘Then we will decide after the decision whether we will continue with this campaign at full speed. Today was the last day to qualify. Right now we’re just dotting our dots and crossing our T’s.”
Georgia’s Democratic leaders are concerned that Willis could be thrown out of the case and have appeared in court to support her during the hearings.
Ashley Merchant, the attorney defending Trump’s co-defendant Michael Roman, first came forward to expose Willis’ relationship with Wade.
She claimed in explosive testimony that Wills paid Wade nearly double his colleagues’ salaries and met with Kamala Harris before she indicted Donald Trump.
Koopman too testified at a hearing in the Georgia State Senate as a judge considered whether Willis should be disqualified from the Trump case.
She said Wade received more than $650,000 in invoices from Willis and left little information on his invoices, and that Willis is “the one approving the bills.”
She also testified about the 12,000 text messages that Wade and Willis exchanged before claiming they started their relationship.
Wade was also in court when he watched attorneys for the Fulton County district attorney argue that she should not be kicked off the case because of their relationship.
Willis (left) and her ex-boyfriend Wade (right) sit at the prosecutor’s table during closing arguments for her March 1 disqualification hearing
Merchant outlined her theory Wednesday that Willis and Wade deliberately pursued a complex case that allowed Wade to bill for more hours and potentially benefit himself and Wade.
She then faced questions about why Willis, who earns a salary of more than $200,000 a year, would participate in the expanded plan in exchange for vacations and trips worth several thousand.
Trump’s attorney Stephen Sadow alleged that Willis played the “race and religion card” in an attempt to influence the jury that would hear conspiracy charges against him in Georgia.
He accuses Willis of “inexcusable” conduct in a new legal filing after joining explosive hearings over Willis’ speech to an Atlanta church over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.
He accused her of “deliberately playing both the ‘race and religion card’” and accused her of unfairly attacking lawyers for Trump and his co-defendants.
Trump and 18 co-defendants were charged on August 15 in an alleged “criminal enterprise” to overturn the election.
