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A Georgia judge on Monday ordered the unsealing of divorce proceedings involving the special prosecutor heading the case against former President Donald Trump, according to WSB-TV.
The decision came after the proceedings spurred allegations that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had an improper relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, court records show.
It was not immediately clear when the proceedings would be made public.
An attorney for Michael Roman, one of the 19 people charged in the Georgia election case, accused Willis of having a “clandestine personal relationship” with Nathan Wade in a motion filed in court earlier this month.
Attorney Ashleigh Merchant said the relationship “resulted in the special prosecutor, and, in turn, the district attorney, profiting significantly from this prosecution at the expense of the taxpayers.” She added that records show Willis and Wade traveled together to places including Napa Valley, Florida and the Caribbean and questioned the purpose of the trips.
She did not provide proof to support her allegations, as Wade’s divorce proceedings had been under seal, WSB reported.
“I would have never filed something like this if I didn’t have multiple sources to corroborate,” Merchant told the news station earlier this month.
An attorney for Willis last week moved to quash a subpoena requiring the district attorney to testify in Wade’s divorce proceedings, WSB reported. A Cobb County judge on Monday said he would wait until hearing from Wade to make his decision on that, according to the news station.
Willis’ deposition had been scheduled to take place Tuesday, The Associated Press reported.
In court records, Merchant argued that Wade, Willis and her office should be disqualified from prosecuting the case against Roman and his co-defendants because of the alleged relationship between the district attorney and the special prosecutor.
Earlier this month, Willis broke her silence about the allegations, calling out a perceived double standard, WSB reported. Speaking from the pulpit at Big Bethel Baptist Church in downtown Atlanta, Willis did not name Wade but said the special prosecutor she hired was hired in a different county to do a similar job for more pay.
She did not address allegations that she and Wade had an affair, according to WSB.
Authorities charged Trump, Roman and 17 others with multiple alleged crimes, accusing them of racketeering in order to keep Trump in power after he lost the 2020 presidential election. Four people — bail bondsman Scott Hall and attorneys Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro and Jenna Ellis — have pleaded guilty to charges.
The former president and others charged in the case, including former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, have denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.
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