(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, whose prosecution of former President Donald Trump has been marred by an affair scandal involving a special prosecutor, pledged in a 2020 video not to date her subordinates.
Shared on Willis’ Facebook page in 2020, the video features the then-district attorney candidate participating in the Patricia Crayton Show, where she vigorously campaigned against her predecessor Paul Howard Jr., entangled in a scandal involving corruption and sexual harassment.
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
“I will certainly not be choosing to date people that work under me,” she firmly stated. “We are at a place in society where things happen in people’s relationships — husbands and wives sometimes, there are outside relationships. I don’t think that that’s what the community is concerned about. Although there might be a moral breaking in that.”
The video, first reported by the New York Post on Saturday, shows Willis expressing concern about the public outcry regarding elected officials engaging in romantic or inappropriate relationships with subordinates.
“I think that what citizens are really, really concerned about is if you chose to have inappropriate contact with employees,” she continued. “There’s nothing I can say on it other than that it is distracting. It is certainly inappropriate for the No. 1 law officer in this state, and it really really saddens me.”
While it isn’t immediately clear whether Willis was directly responding to the scandal plaguing her successor, Howard Jr., was voted out in disgrace following a sex harassment scandal and a corruption scandal involving granting taxpayer-funded money to non-profits he directly led.
The 2020 remarks stand in stark contrast to Willis’ alleged actions as district attorney. According to a scathing legal motion filed by Michael Roman, one of the 18 co-defendants in the Georgia election case, Willis had an affair with Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom Willis herself hired to prosecute the election case.
Willis’ office paid Wade a staggering $653,000 for his work in the investigation of Trump, ultimately leading to RICO charges. The filing stated that Willis personally benefited from the contract, as she took several vacation trips paid for by Wade.
Fani Willis indicted President Trump, hired a lead prosecutor who never tried a felony case that she was sleeping with, paid him nearly $1M in Georgia tax dollars, and he proceeded to buy plane tickets for vacations in her name.
It doesn’t get more comically corrupt. pic.twitter.com/xC68XAclpG
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 19, 2024
Disturbingly, Willis allegedly failed to disclose such a relationship to the judge overseeing the Trump case. Wade’s estranged wife is subpoenaing Willis in the couple’s divorce proceedings.
Willis has not denied being involved in an affair with Wade, nor has she denied taking the trips paid for by Wade, who was simultaneously receiving funds from the taxpayer-funded contract.
Willis will have to respond to Roman’s motion on Feb. 15.
