Georgia's Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was recently accused of improperly hiring an inexperienced special prosecutor, with whom she is involved in a romantic affair, in her case against former President Donald Trump, and is further alleged to have improperly financially benefited from the arrangement via gifts and travel paid for via taxpayer funds.
Those allegations compelled a prominent Democratic attorney, Norm Eisen, to call for Willis' special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, to step aside and remove himself from the case, the New York Post reported.
Eisen was motivated in part by the obvious ethical concerns raised by the situation but also by partisan worries that the controversy could cause a delay in the prosecution and possible conviction of the former president that Eisen previously helped House Democrats impeach.
The Washington Post reported that Eisen, who served as the White House ethics czar under former President Barack Obama and as special counsel for House Democrats in the first impeachment of former President Trump, is a strong ally of Fulton County DA Willis and a supporter of her racketeering prosecution of Trump.
As such, he has defended Willis amid the recent allegations of impropriety and argued that her case against Trump is too important for her to step aside or be removed or for the prosecution to be unnecessarily delayed.
Thus, even as he claims that there is "no legal basis" for Wade to resign or be removed as Willis' special prosecutor, Eisen said Wade nonetheless should step down from his role to avoid further controversy and not cause delays for the impending Trump trial.
Eisen told The Post that if Wade were to seek his advice as an ethics expert, he would tell him that "No matter the law, discretion is the better course of valor," and that he should voluntarily remove himself from the alleged situation.
He further stated that the allegations proved true of a romantic affair between Willis and Wade that Willis benefited from financially in the form of gifts and paid-for travel at taxpayer's expense -- Wade has reportedly received more than $654,000 from Fulton County taxpayers -- then such an arrangement was "not wise."
Yet, referencing the case against former President Trump and several of his associates -- including former campaign staffer Michael Roman, who raised the allegations against Willis -- Eisen said, "There is an overwhelming amount of evidence justifying the decision to prosecute Mr. Trump and his co-conspirators, including Mr. Roman."
"The evidence is strong. The case is powerful. It’s very likely to lead to conviction," he added. "And we mustn’t lose time on the calendar given the paramount public interest in bringing that strong case to a speedy conclusion."
Meanwhile, as Eisen pursues damage control by urging Wade to get out of the picture, Willis appears to now be subject to a potential investigation by Fulton County Audit Committee Chairman Bob Ellis, who is also a county commissioner, according to the Washington Examiner.
Ellis sent a letter on Friday to Willis that asked for her response to the allegations that she "misused County funds and accepted valuable gifts and personal benefits from a contractor/recipient of County funds."
He further inquired about Willis' decision to hire Wade because he is "alleged to (1) lack relevant prosecutorial experience in a case of this type and complexity, (2) have paid for your portion of multiple instances of joint leisure travel, and (3) be in a romantic relationship with you that was not disclosed to the court or to the parties in the case."
As part of the inquiry aimed at "safeguarding Fulton County's interests," Ellis gave Willis until Feb. 2 to provide his audit committee with an abundance of relevant information related to the hiring decision, contract, and payments in comparison with other prosecutors hired to work on the case.
