Legal experts have raised the possibility of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis facing perjury charges for her testimony regarding her relationship with a special prosecutor. Willis claimed under oath that she only began dating Nathan Wade after Donald Trump’s indictment, a statement that Trump’s lawyers believe they can disprove with phone records. Newsweek reached out for comments from both Willis’ office and Trump’s attorneys via email on Tuesday.
Willis, along with eighteen other defendants, is accused of conspiring to overturn Joe Biden’s election win in Georgia in 2020. Despite being the leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, Trump has consistently argued that the case is politically motivated and has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Legal experts interviewed by Newsweek have expressed reservations about Willis’ testimony.
Willis, a Democrat, could potentially face perjury charges from Georgia Attorney General Christopher Carr, as suggested by Eric Anderson, an attorney at Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae in Los Angeles, California.
“Given the political climate, I would not be completely surprised if the attorney general, a Republican, acts. Attorney General Carr has shown a willingness to take on elected officials in criminal proceedings before,” Anderson said.
“When it comes to politics, anything is possible. Unless the alleged perjury is about a fact material to the matter at hand, perjury charges are not likely for a regular witness,” Anderson added.
Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University, told Newsweek that Trump’s lawyers want “to shift the question before the court from disqualification to perjury.”
“The judge should focus on the real disqualification question here. Is there any basis to find that Willis chose to pursue the case to generate income for Wade, which he would then use to take her on luxury trips?” Gillers added.
“The answer is no. Willis started her investigation in February 2021 and did not hire Wade, who was not her first choice, until nine months later. She got an indictment and four guilty pleas,” Gillers said.
“Her successes so far rebut any suggestion that she brought or continued the case to generate fees for Wade. To the contrary, her successes so far tell us she did so because in fact it is a meritorious case,” Gillers added.
Willis claimed under oath that she only started dating Wade after assigning him to the Trump case. However, the former president has obtained Wade’s phone records and hired a technology expert to allegedly prove that Wade had spent time at Willis’ residence before the election fraud investigation began.
Additionally, Trump’s lawyers are seeking more information about the extravagant trips that Wade and Willis took together.
The judge will now decide whether Willis and Wade can continue working on the Trump election fraud case. Greg Germain, a law professor at Syracuse University in New York, informed Newsweek that the district attorney may face perjury charges.
“Willis could certainly be charged with perjury if a prosecutor can prove that Willis knowingly lied under oath. The matter would have to be referred to a prosecutor, presumably from another DA office, or state or federal prosecutor, to bring the charges. It is not common for people to be charged with perjury for lying under oath about a personal relationship, but it certainly has happened in high-profile cases, like Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinski. So yes, a perjury prosecution is possible,” Germain said.
Judge Scott McAfee, overseeing the Trump case, conducted multiple hearings to determine whether Willis and her office should be disqualified. Trump and some co-defendants pushed for their removal due to a perceived conflict of interest, advocating for the case to be dismissed.
Willis and Wade, both denying any financial gain from their relationship, claim it began in spring 2022 when Wade was hired by Willis. McAfee’s hearings are set to resume on Tuesday to address whether Willis should remain involved in the case.
In an effort to prove that prosecutor Nathan Wade had a pre-existing relationship with Willis before being appointed to the election fraud case, Trump’s legal team utilized a phone records analyst. Trump’s legal team aims to show that Willis hired Wade due to their romantic involvement, leading to the belief that the district attorney should recuse herself from the Trump case.
