Documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation show that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis hired an alleged mistress's law partner in her office for $150 an hour. The arrangement has raised eyebrows among legal experts who question her spending. of public funds.

christopher campbell Partner The firm of Wade & Campbell has received $126,070 from the district attorney's office since 2021. according to In county records. According to a contract obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation, Mr. Willis hired Mr. Campbell to provide his services in reviewing privileged evidence as a “taint attorney” starting in January 2021 for $150 an hour.

A “contamination lawyer” can help you. sift Exclude evidence covered by things like attorney-client privilege through files obtained from search warrants and prevent it from being turned over to prosecutors.

In November 2021, Mr. Willis appointed Mr. Campbell's partner, Nathan Wade, as special prosecutor in the case against former President Donald Trump, even though Mr. Campbell is said to be his girlfriend.

Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis falsely said on Sunday that all special prosecutors working on former President Donald Trump's case were paid the same hourly rate as his alleged girlfriend Nathan Wade, police said. This was revealed in the documents obtained. @DailyCaller News Foundation program🧵

— Katelyn Richardson (@katesrichardson) January 16, 2024

A co-defendant of former President Donald Trump brought charges against Willis. motion Last week, she claimed she had signed a “lucrative” contract with her alleged boyfriend, Wade, and that she benefited from the money he earned from the job by taking her on trips and cruises. The motion further states that Willis has not received approval from the Fulton County Commission to appoint Wade, and that funds requested to clear the backlog of cases caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will be used to fund Wade's appointment. He claimed to have paid compensation.

Legal experts told DCNF that the circumstances surrounding the contract raise concerns about Willis' allocation of funds.

John Malcolm, deputy director of the Heritage Foundation's Institute for Constitutional Studies and a former assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Criminal Division, told DCNF that if his work as a corruption lawyer was for the Trump case, Campbell's payments would be made by Willis. He said it could cause further problems for him. .

“It's not just the issue of Wade being her mistress and the kickback issue, but also that she obtained the funds by misleading the Fulton County Commissioners about how the funds were to be used,” he said. “Plus, it's going to be rich.” [Wade’s] Hard. “

Willis employed three people. outside Wade, John Floyd, and Anna Cross, the lawyers handling the Trump case. Willis claimed she paid the same hourly rate to all three special prosecutors in the Trump case, but billing statements obtained by the DCNF show she paid Floyd a lower hourly rate than her alleged boyfriend, Wade. It became clear that

Campbell's contract runs from January 25, 2021 to January 25, 2022, and is the same hourly rate that Willis originally gave Floyd, known as Georgia's top extortion expert, in his April 2021 contract. Same hourly wage. Floyd was later paid $200 an hour, according to the contract.

Willis will also work for $250 an hour with Anna Cross, a prosecutor with 20 years of experience who has represented Georgia in several high-profile murder cases, according to a contract obtained by DCNF. I had a contract.

Wade Contract and Billing Starting November 1, 2021 reveal He was paid $250 an hour for his work as special prosecutor, $100 more than his partner Campbell. Wade has received approximately $654,000 from the Fulton County District Attorney's Office since the beginning of 2022. according to In county records.

wade and campbell former law PartnerTerrence Bradley is also being paid $74,480 by the district attorney's office starting in 2021. according to In county records.

According to the documents, under a separate contract from March 1, 2021 to April 30, 2021, Campbell was hired to provide services as a “first-year attorney” at a rate of $65 an hour.

Their job is to represent the district attorney's office at the defendant's first court appearance. hearingwill be held before a judge within 72 hours of the arrest to consider issuing bail and notify the defendant of the charges.

“This is a mystery in itself,” Philip Holloway, an Atlanta-based criminal defense attorney and legal analyst, told DCNF. “I have no idea why the prosecutor's office would need to pay a private lawyer to handle the 'first appearance' calendar. Any DA assistant can easily do that. They are already enrolled in payroll, and this is the simplest of all tasks. ”

Mr. Holloway said that while Mr. Campbell was working as a taint attorney — a neutral third party trying to determine whether privileged material should be withheld from prosecutors — at the same time there appeared to be a “conflict of interest.” Stated. A de facto “prosecutor” who handles regular court dates on behalf of the district attorney's office.

“I think there are a lot of questions that need to be answered,” Holloway said.

It's unclear from the contract alone what kind of cases Campbell was working on, but Malcolm said a smear lawyer would likely be needed in connection with the Trump case.

“Certainly there are going to be a lot of privilege issues in the Trump case, including attorney-client privilege issues and executive privilege issues, so there will be a need for tainted lawyers,” Malcolm told DCNF.

Mr. Malcolm noted that “being in the same firm as Mr. Wade can be a little problematic'' and that he would normally “expect a completely outside attorney to review'' these types of matters. Deaf added.

Campbell's contract to work as a pollution attorney states: “The services provided are of a special and temporary nature and it has been determined that it is in the best interest of the public that they be performed under contract by professional personnel.'' “It is a thing,” it is written. Another contract, from February 1, 2022 to October 31, 2022, includes a similar obligation to “receive and confidentially review law enforcement records” and also sets the hourly rate at $150. has been done.

“I don't know how often Fulton County hires people for that kind of work, but I think the fees are reasonable,” Atlanta-based criminal defense attorney Andrew Fleischman told DCNF. Ta. “I don't know if there is a connection, but [W]Or towards efforts to address the coronavirus backlog. ”

Their firm, Wade & Campbell, handles personal injury, family law, contract law, and criminal defense cases. according to Go to that website. Before joining Willis' Trump investigation, Wade's experience included working as a municipal judge, primarily handling traffic tickets, and in private practice, handling contract disputes and family law. according to In the Washington Post.

Neither the district attorney's office nor Campbell responded to requests for comment.

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