Several things seem to be true at once when it comes to the scandals embroiling Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the woman currently leading the election interference case against former President Donald Trump in Georgia. The first is that the Trump team is willing to use any dirty trick in the book to cast aspersions on Willis, including leveling salacious accusations without evidence, accusing Willis (who is Black) of racial bias, and hinting that she should be disbarred. The second is that Willis has navigated this moment poorly, to put it mildly, and if the allegations against her are indeed true—a big if, although she has not vociferously denied them—they show profoundly poor judgment that could derail one of the most consequential criminal cases in modern American history.

The allegations against Willis are broad, but the worst among them are that she hired Nathan Wade as special counsel on the case—for which he has reportedly been paid more than $650,000 in public funds over the years he’s worked for her despite having very limited experience in complex criminal cases—because Willis and Wade “have been engaged in an improper, clandestine personal relationship during the pendency of this case.” Wade allegedly paid for vacations for both him and Willis, the motion asserts, which means that both of them have profited “significantly from this prosecution at the expense of the taxpayers.”

The accusations were made by former Trump campaign official Mike Roman, a co-defendant in the Trump election interference case, in a motion filed before the judge. Willis initially met the accusations with silence. When she finally did address them, she didn’t deny a relationship with Wade. Instead, in a speech at Big Bethel AME Church, she said that the attacks on her and Wade stemmed largely from racism. She said she appointed three special counsels, all of whom were paid the same rate, and the one the Trump lawyers and the GOP have singled out is the lone Black man. “Isn’t it them playing the race card?” she asked.

Willis didn’t........

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