Fani Willis’ future faces new challenge

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is facing a new challenger in her reelection bid in November.

Willis is facing controversy over her relationship with Nathan Wade, the chief prosecutor in the Donald Trump election fraud case in Georgia.

The former president and 18 others are accused in a 41-count indictment of trying to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all 13 charges against him and has said the case is politically motivated as is very likely to take the GOP presidential nomination.

Christian Wise Smith, who has served as Atlanta city solicitor and as a Fulton County prosecutor, filed paperwork on Friday morning at the Georgia state Capitol.

He filed the paperwork just minutes before the noon deadline, according to a post on X, formerly Twitter, by Michelle Baruchman, a reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Newsweek sought email comment from Trump’s lawyer and from Willis’ office on Friday.

Willis filed her paperwork on Thursday.

Both Willis and Wise Smith are black Democrats and his inclusion could split the party vote. Willis is also facing a challenge from a Republican candidate.

Wise, who wrote a children’s book about the importance of voting, ran against Willis in 2020 on a social justice platform. After he was eliminated, he endorsed Willis’ challenger, Paul Howard.

Scott McAfee, the judge in Trump’s Georgia trial, has held two days of hearings to determine if Willis and Wade should be allowed to continue in the case.

Willis said under oath that the relationship only began after she appointed Wade to the Trump case. Defense lawyers for Trump and his co-accused, Michael Roman, have claimed to McAfee that the Wade/Willis relationship began long before the Trump case and that she only appointed Wade for that reason.

McAfee is expected to rule by March 15 on whether Willis and Wade should be removed from the case.

Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University, told Newsweek that if Willis is removed, that would likely push Trump’s trial past inauguration day in January 2015, when Trump may be the next U.S. president.

“But if Willis is disqualified and that decision is upheld on an appeal, the case will not go away. There’s a grand jury indictment. The state is obligated to pick a successor prosecutor. But the trial will be delayed until 2025,” he said.

He said that Willis should be permitted to continue the case.

“Whether Wade and Willis began their affair before or after Willis retained Wade is irrelevant to whether Willis should be able to continue with the prosecution. The hearing never should have been held. The judge seems to misunderstand the rules. No evidence supports disqualification,” he said.