Trump co-defendant Mike Roman urges Georgia court to reject Fani Willis' ask to cancel hearing over her affair with prosecutor

On Friday, Mike Roman, one of the 19 Trump co-defendants in the 2020 Georgia election conspiracy case, urged the court to reject Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis's request to cancel the evidentiary hearing on her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. 

Roman, who uncovered the district attorney's bombshell relationship with Wade last month, filed a reply to the Superior Court in Fulton County Georgia, which argues why the defendant should be able to cross-examine Wade, alleging that Willis and Wade are trying to escape accountability for creating a conflict-of-interest in the case. 

The court filing argues: "If Mr. Roman had not uncovered the now-admitted personal relationship between Willis and Wade, no one may have ever known about it. That raises the obvious and important question: If they had nothing to hide in the first place because they did nothing wrong, then why did they intentionally not tell anyone about it until they got caught with their hand in the cookie jar?" 

"This highlights the very reason why this Court cannot just take their word for it. They now attempt to escape accountability by asking this Court to deny Mr. Roman the right to cross-examine and test their assertions at an evidentiary hearing, going so far as to submit an affidavit from Wade that is inadmissible and violative of the Confrontation Clauses of both the United States and Georgia Constitutions," says Roman. 

"This is not a summary judgment motion," he continues. "Peoples' freedom and lives are at stake." 

The defendant goes on to list several reasons as to why a hearing is crucial to the case, referencing Wade's affidavit as grounds for necessary cross-examination. 

"If Mr. Roman was permitted to cross-examine Wade, he could ask questions such as the following: 

"In Paragraph 17 of your affidavit, you swore that you met Ms. Willis in October of 2019 at a Municipal Court training. Isn't it true that you began more than just a friendship at that conference?" 

"In Paragraph 31 of your affidavit, you swore that you have never cohabitated with Ms. Willis but the attached documents show you shared a king-size bed with her in Aruba from November 1, 2022, until November 4, 2022." 

Additionally, Roman explains that witnesses will testify on allegations that Wade cohabitated with Fani Willis both at her home in South Fulton and at an AirBNB in Hapeville, which was a stay funded by taxpayers. 

"If his experience is so significant," Roman writes, "Then he should welcome the opportunity to testify as to the specifics of the cases he has tried and enjoy the candid transparency that would bring to the process instead of hiding behind an unsubstantiated claim that he has "tried complex" matters including murder, rape, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and drug trafficking." 

"To put it plainly, he has given this Court and the public no reason to take his word for it," says Roman. 

Furthermore, Roman requests that a "hearing is also needed because it appears that the District Attorney's Office is not being entirely 'candid and transparent' as they allege in their response." 

Roman says in the court filing that the State claims to have attached a motion "of a contract that Mr. Roman has been asking for, but has never received. Erica Willingham, the Open Records Officer for the Fulton County District Attorney responded repeatedly that she had given undersigned counsel all of the contracts that existed between FCDA and Mr. Wade but yet this contract was not contained among those." 

"This creates important factual questions about whether Wade and Willis have been 'transparent' that can only be resolved at an evidentiary hearing," argues Roman. 

"Mr. Roman requested copies of the invoices that are now attached to the State's response as Exhibit "3". On January 4, 2024, through the Open Records Portal for the Fulton County District Attorney, Mr. Roman requested these invoices and made repeated attempts to obtain them, but the District Attorney's Office failed to do so 'based on staffing levels and workloads'" Roman continues. "The first time those invoices were ever made available to Mr. Roman was an exhibit to the State's response. The State's response also blames Mr. Roman for not supplementing his motion once the divorce file was unsealed. That is the exact purpose of an evidentiary hearing, and Mr. Roman intends to present the evidence at the hearing." 

"This is a criminal case, not a civil case. It cannot be decided on ex parte, self-serving affidavits. Some of the individuals whom Mr. Roman has subpoenaed to testify have personal knowledge that Wade and Willis's personal relationship began before his appointment as a special prosecutor. In other words, they have knowledge that the assertion by Willis in the State's response and in Wade's affidavit are both false," he writes. 

"This is the reason Mr. Roman is entitled to cross-examine the State's witnesses, including Willis and Wade, on these material facts going to the heart of the issue of whether they should be disqualified," he concludes. 

District Attorney Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade have both been subpoenaed to testify at a hearing on February 15 where arguments will be heard before a judge on why Willis and Wade should be disqualified from the Trump Georgia 2020 election case due to their romantic relationship and financial ties. 

Willis hired Wade to prosecute former President Donald Trump and his allies. Critics claim Wade was hired to ensure there be a prosecution against Trump. 

The allegations were first revealed by Trump co-defendant, Mike Roman, who argued that the two should be disqualified from the case citing a conflict of interest.