A video resurfaced on Friday showing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis pledging she will not “date people that work” under her if elected to her current position.
The clip of Willis was filmed during her April 6, 2020, appearance on the Atlanta-area public access program “People TV” as she campaigned to become Fulton County’s top prosecutor.
“I certainly will not be choosing people to date that work under me, let me just say that,” Willis said.
Willis then seemed to reference divorce and extramarital affairs, noting, “We are at a place in society where things happen in people’s relationships, husbands and wives, sometimes there are outside relationships.”
The then-district attorney candidate added, “I don’t think that is what the community is concerned about, although there might be a moral breaking in that.”
According to Willis, citizens care more about “if you chose to have inappropriate contact with employees.”
The video was resurfaced on social media on Friday by Washington Free Beacon reporter Andrew Kerr, who noted that Willis also said it would be “unfortunate” for taxpayers to cover the sexual misconduct of elected officials financially.
NEW: Fani Willis, accused of sleeping with the married man she hired at an exorbitant rate to prosecute Trump, promised in 2020 she wouldn't sleep with her staffers.
She also said it would be "unfortunate" if taxpayers had to pay for an elected official's sexual misconduct. pic.twitter.com/sJs0g97yhP
— Andrew Kerr (@AndrewKerrNC) January 19, 2024
It resurfaced as Willis is accused of engaging in an inappropriate romantic affair with Nathan Wade, whom she appointed as a special prosecutor for her election case against former President Donald Trump, and compensated more than $650,000 for his work using taxpayer money.
Willis won her election in November 2020 after pledging not to date her subordinates in the April 2020 interview. Wade was appointed to his role as a special prosecutor with her office, focusing on her case against the former president, on November 1, 2021. He started divorce proceedings against his wife within 24 hours of his appointment.
Credit card statements provided by Wade to his estranged wife as part of their divorce case proceedings were made public through a legal filing on Friday, and they purportedly prove the existence of a romantic entanglement between him and Willis.
Wade’s financial statements reveal he bought at least two sets of round-trip tickets to popular vacation destinations for him and Willis, meaning she may have financially benefited from her decision to give her alleged lover a taxpayer-funded position at her office.
The allegation the special prosecutor and district attorney are romantically linked originated with a legal filing by Michael Roman, a defendant in Willis’ case against Trump, who said the relationship should compel Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to dismiss the charges against him and preclude Willis from prosecuting the case against Trump.
A criminal referral and a complaint with the Georgia State Bar have been filed against Willis. Last week, McAfee also ordered Willis to respond to Roman’s accusation with a legal filing by February 2 and be ready to defend herself in court on February 15.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Fani Willis” by Fulton County District Attorney’s Office.
