Fani Willis Reveals Her 'Greatest Crime'

On Saturday, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis made her first public comments since a judge ruled that she could remain on Donald Trump's election interference case in Georgia.

"I don't feel my reputation needs to be reclaimed. Let's say it for the record, I'm not embarrassed by anything I've done. I guess my greatest crime is that I had a relationship with a man, but that's not something I find embarrassing in any way. And I know that I have not done anything that's illegal," Willis, speaking to CNN's Rafael Romo at a community Easter Egg Hunt in College Park, Georgia, said in response to a question about reclaiming her reputation.

Later on Saturday, Trump's lead defense counsel for the case, Steve Sadow, posted on X, formerly Twitter, in response to the district attorney's comments, "Apparently Judge [Scott] McAfee's warning to Willis in his disqualification order about talking about the case in a public forum is simply being ignored. Does that surprise anyone??"

In his March 15 ruling, McAfee noted Willis' comments at an Atlanta-area church last month when she spoke out about the "weapons" facing her and her office.

McAfee wrote at the time, "The Court cannot find that this speech crossed the line to the point where the Defendants have been denied the opportunity for a fundamentally fair trial or that it requires the District Attorney's disqualification. But it was still legally improper. Providing this type of public comment creates dangerous waters for the District Attorney to wade further into."

The Context:

Willis found herself at the center of a potential ethics violation related to her alleged affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade after the accusations were brought forward by former Trump staffer and co-defendant Michael Roman. This comes amid Willis' case against the former president, in which Trump and 18 co-defendants were indicted by a Georgia grand jury in August and face criminal racketeering charges for allegedly attempting to overturn the state's electoral results in the 2020 election won by Joe Biden. Trump, the presumed 2024 GOP presidential nominee, has pleaded not guilty.

In an attempt to get Willis and her team disqualified and the charges against them thrown out, some of the defendants, including Trump, argued that a personal relationship between Willis and Wade created a conflict of interest. While Willis and Wade confirmed they had been in a relationship, they said that neither had personally benefited from it.

Following an ethics hearing, Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over the election interference case, announced earlier this month that he wasn't disqualifying Willis from the case. He then gave Willis the option of removing herself or Wade from the case. Wade resigned shortly after.

What We Know:

On Wednesday, McAfee issued a certificate of immediate review, allowing Trump and other co-defendants to seek appeal of the order denying disqualification of Willis from their election interference case.

"The Court finds that the order on the Defendants' motions to Dismiss and Disqualify the Fulton County District Attorney issued March 15, 2024, 'is of such importance to the case that immediate review should be had.' Accordingly the requested motion is granted," McAfee wrote.

Now, the Georgia Court of Appeals must determine if it will take up the case—a move some legal experts say could result in a pause.

Views:

Saturday's interview with Willis aired on CNN's Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield.

Romo said Willis was "surprisingly candid" as she spoke about the months of turmoil and continuing to work on the election interference case against Trump and his co-defendants.

"My team has been continued to work. All while that was going on, we were writing response and briefs. We were still doing the case in the way it needed to be done. I don't think we've been slowed down at all. I think there are efforts to slow down this train. But the train is coming," Willis said Saturday during the interview.

Speaking to CNN's Laura Coates last week, Ashleigh Merchant, who represents Roman, said she was appealing the verdict to remove Willis from the case because of "evidence of forensic misconduct" in some of Willis' decisions during the case as well as her relationship with Wade.

She said witnesses she called in the case including Wade's former divorce lawyer, Terrence Bradley, felt concerned about losing his law license, which made him less revelatory about Wade and Willis' relationship when he was questioned.

She added that through the hearing's proceeding Willis undermined the prosecution in Trump's case.

"We did uncover a lot of conduct I do think undermined their credibility," Merchant said. "We have a right to have a fair and impartial prosecutor evaluate the case. And that didn't happen in this case."

What's Next?

According to Georgia law, McAfee will respond to Trump's appeals request by Monday, March 25. If approved, the request will move to the Georgia Court of Appeal, which will have 45 days to make a decision on whether to take on the case.

Sadow said in a previous statement to Newsweek that the team intends to "use all legal options available as we continue to fight to end this case, which should never have been brought in the first place."

Update 3/23/24, 4:32 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.

Update 3/23/24, 5:11 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.

Update 3/23/24, 6:05 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.