Ashleigh Merchant, the intrepid attorney for a Trump co-defendant who broke the allegations of an affair between Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and subordinate Nathan Wade, indicated on the stand that she believes Willis met with Vice President Kamala Harris at some point during her investigation into former President Donald Trump.
According to a White House guest list presented during a Georgia Senate hearing investigating Willis’ misconduct Wednesday, Merchant described how Willis visited on February 28th, 2023, and would have gone through extensive screening to secure a meeting with Harris.
“My understanding is it’s highly regulated, who can access the White House, so you have to apply in person or apply ahead of time,” Merchant said in testimony to the Georgia Senate, adding that it was an open record she obtained indicating Willis and Harris met that day.
Asked if the meeting took place before the indictment of Trump, Merchant replied, “Yes.”
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“Any further explanation of why Ms. Willis was meeting with the vice president of the United States?” the questioning attorney asked.
“No,” she said, adding the mayor of Atlanta, Democrat Andre Dickens, was also present.
Republicans in Georgia have launched an inquiry into possible ethical violations by Willis, not only for her romantic relationship with a subordinate whose hiring has remained murky, but also for the potential misappropriation of funds from other departments in order to fund her case against Trump. Republicans in the U.S. House, led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), have launched a similar probe of Willis’ handling of federal funds and inquired as to whether she coordinated her indictment with Biden Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith.
Elsewhere in her testimony, Merchant chronicled a witness’ recounting of the timeline of an affair between Willis and Wade. One individual, she said, confirmed they met at a conference while Wade was still married and according to his attorney “was still upset at what happened in the divorce.”
“He essentially just left her after meeting Ms. Willis and dropping the kids off at college,” she said about Wade.
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Asked if Terrence Bradley, Wade’s divorce attorney and former law partner, approved of his treatment of his ex-wife, Merchant replied, “He did not.”
The admission is significant because Bradley has become a central witness to allegations that Willis and Wade lied under oath about the timeline of their relationship, representing to the court that they became romantically linked only after she hired Wade in the Trump case. However, according to both Bradley and a former friend to Willis, the couple began seeing each other in 2019, long before Wade was hired to the case two years later.