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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
Former President Donald Trump’s legal fortunes appear to be changing months after some 91 state and federal charges were brought against him.
According to a Monday Newsweek report, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) said over the weekend that allegations of professional improprieties involving Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis are “deeply troubling” after he denounced previous efforts by Republican legislators to go after her after charging Trump.
“But in a boost for Trump, Kemp has now joined several Republicans who have spoken out against Willis after one of the defendants in the case accused her of engaging in an ‘improper’ relationship with Nathan Wade, a prosecutor she hired for the case,” Newsweek reported further, adding that Willis’ office has said she plans to address the allegations in a future court filing.
On Friday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said he is currently waiting for a response from Willis’ office before setting a hearing date to consider the issue.
“These allegations are deeply troubling and evidence should be presented quickly for Judge McAfee to rule and the public to have confidence in this trial moving forward,” Kemp said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In addition to potentially having an improper relationship with Hale, a report late last week noted that he billed her department for meetings with Biden White House officials, according to court documents, “raising questions” about the administration’s involvement in the case.
Just the News reported that the revelation comes after Wade and Willis came under fire following the court filings after they alleged the two had been engaged in a romantic relationship while her office paid him more than $650,000 in legal fees since January 2022.
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The outlet added:
The new information regarding the White House Counsel meeting with Wade also follows previous reports by Just the News that the Biden White House worked to facilitate “special access” for the FBI to 15 boxes of Trump presidential documents that he had returned to the National Archives.
The new court filing, which is part of a Georgia case against Michael Roman, a Trump codefendant, shows that the special prosecutor met on at least one occasion with Biden’s White House Counsel. Wade indicated that this meeting was part of his travel to Athens, Ga., on May 23, 2022, according to an invoice that he submitted to the DA’s office.
“Travel to Athens; Conf with White House Counsel,” the invoice says. Wade billed the DA’s office $2,000 for the trip.
The invoices filed in the lawsuit show at least one other meeting with staff at the Biden White House — on Nov. 18, 2022. That meeting appears to have taken place in Washington, D.C., yet there is no record in the White House visitor logs that Wade was there.
“Interview with DC/White House,” the invoice reads. He also charged $2,000 for that meeting as well.
The meeting in November 2022 took place just three days after Trump formally announced he was running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Just the News reported.
While this was going on, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich claimed in August that he had learned from a very “reliable source” that “someone in Washington” had instructed Willis to indict Trump on a late Monday evening rather than the following day when the grand jury returned.
He speculated that the reason behind the urgency was to divert attention from a mishap involving David Weiss, the U.S. attorney — who spent years investigating Hunter Biden, refused to bring any serious charges, and then cut a sweetheart plea bargain with Hunter’s defense attorneys — after he was granted special counsel status the previous Friday by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
After claiming that the story was “hearsay,” Gingrich clarified that the source, nevertheless, has historically been very accurate.
“I am told by a reliable source that Friday evening, somebody from Washington called the District Attorney of Atlanta and said, you have to indict on Monday. We have to cover up all of the mistakes we just made with Weiss,” he explained.
“And she said, apparently, ‘My jurors aren’t coming back until Tuesday,’” Gingrich continued.
“‘You didn’t hear me. You have to on Monday,’” he added, quoting the alleged Washington sources.
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“‘But they’re not gonna get her before noon,’” Gingrich noted further, quoting Willis. “They said, ‘That doesn’t matter.’ She said, ‘This means that it’s gonna be eight or nine or ten o’clock.’ They said, ‘It doesn’t matter. We need the news shifting off of Weiss.”
Kirk asked Gingrich who made the phone call, but Gingrich said he didn’t have that information.
“I’m telling you upfront, this is hearsay, but it’s from a person who has remarkably good sources,” Gingrich said.
