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In a lengthy hearing before a George state Senate committee on Wednesday, the defense attorney who first alleged a personal relationship Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade walked lawmakers through how she came to find out about their romance.
For several hours, the Republican chairman the George Senate’s Special Committee on Investigations, Sen. Bill Cowsert, questioned Ashleigh Merchant, the defense attorney for Michael Roman, a Trump co-defendant who was charged in Fulton County’s election interference case. The panel had subpoenaed Merchant for her testimony.
“We’re tasked with investigating and finding the true facts,” said Cowsert, explaining why they were holding the hearing. He added that the committee is tasked, if necessary, with amending or creating new statutes “to build guardrails” to “restore the public faith in our criminal justice system.”
The Senate committee does not have any power to disqualify Willis from prosecuting the election interference case. This was the first in what is expected to be a series of hearings investigating Willis for the potential misuse of state funds or of power for personal gain.
Merchant reiterated that she wants Willis to be disqualified, alleging a conflict of interest exists as a result of Willis’ and Wade’s relationship, which they recently said in court had ended last summer. Merchant specifically argued that Willis shouldn’t have hired Wade as a special prosecutor in the election interference case, claiming it violated county policy on nepotism and relationships. And she again alleged that Willis benefitted from her appointment of Wade by accepting trips that he paid for.
Merchant alleges that their romantic relationship began before Willis appointed him as a special prosecutor in November 2021. The former couple, however, have denied that accusation and have stated it began in early 2022.
In her testimony Wednesday, Merchant said that it was Wade’s former law partner and former divorce lawyer, Terrence Bradley, who first told her that Willis and Wade were in a relationship. She said that data she obtained on cell phone pinging showed there were 12,000 voice and text interactions between Wade and Willis in 2021.
During the hearing, Merchant alleged that Willis had received extra funding for homicides and Covid backlogs, but used at least part of that funding on the election case instead. She claimed that Willis hired Wade in such a way as to avoid oversight and then paid him more than other, more experienced special prosecutors.
She also said Wade had offered her client, Roman, a plea offer of a $5,000 fine and a misdemeanor in the case, but they did not accept it.
The only other lawmaker who questioned Merchant on Wednesday was Democratic state Sen. Harold V. Jones II. He expressed skepticism about Merchant’s argument on disqualifying Willis, saying that a case she cited in a court motion contradicted points she made Wednesday.
Jones said the court said in that case, “What you have to show is there’s an actual unfairness to the defendant in the trial,” referring to Roman. “Can you point to any unfairness in the trial that’s taken place?”
Merchant rejected that question and said her argument is that there’s a conflict of interest because Willis and Wade were “sleeping together, and he was paying for trips for them to go on, and they were hiding it from the taxpayers.”
The Fulton County district attorney’s office did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment Wednesday.
The subpoena directed Merchant to bring various documents, including her text history with Bradley.
While the panel has subpoena power, the committee does not have the authority to discipline Willis. If its members do find wrongdoing, they could either refer the case to proper governing authorities, including a newly approved prosecutor oversight panel, or recommend new laws.
Cowsert said the investigation will take “many months” to complete and said there will be more subpoenas.
Asked specifically about a potential subpoena of Willis, Cowsert said, “I don’t know yet.”
The judge overseeing the Fulton County election interference case against Trump and his co-defendants, Scott McAfee, recently heard testimony from Willis and Wade and other witnesses as part of the effort to disqualify Willis from prosecuting the case. McAfee said last Friday that he would make a decision within two weeks.
Dareh Gregorian contributed.
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