Fulton County DA Fani Willis says despite efforts to slow down Trump case, 'the train is coming'

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, left, and prosecutor Daysha Young speak to each other during a hearing on the Georgia election interference case, Friday, March, 1, 2024, in Atlanta. The hearing is to determine whether Willis should be removed from the case because of a relationship with Nathan Wade, special prosecutor she hired in the election interference case against former President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Alex Slitz, Pool)

ATLANTA (AP) — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said Saturday that the election interference prosecution against Donald Trump hasn’t been delayed by proceedings over her romantic relationship with a special prosecutor she hired for the case.

“I don’t feel like we have been slowed down at all,” Willis told CNN in an interview. “I think there are efforts to slow down the train, but the train is coming.”

Her latest comments come as defense attorneys continue to press claims about her handling of a sprawling prosecution against the former president and current GOP presumptive nominee. Trump faces four felony indictments — including separate federal and state cases for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election that he lost to President Joe Biden — but has fought to delay and dismiss the cases, arguing that political opponents are wrongly targeting him.

Willis spoke days after a Georgia judge allowed attorneys for Trump’s codefendants to appeal his ruling that she could stay on the case after the withdrawal of the special prosecutor, Nathan Wade. That may allow defense attorneys to amplify allegations of impropriety between Wade and Willis.

Defense attorneys have alleged Willis hired Wade to profit from the Trump prosecution through their romantic relationship. Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prove those claims but rebuked Willis for what he called a “tremendous lapse in judgment.”

Willis told CNN that she didn’t think her reputation needed to be reclaimed and that she hadn’t done anything embarrassing.

“I’m not embarrassed by anything I’ve done,” Willis said. “I guess my greatest crime is that I had a relationship with a man, but that’s not something I find embarrassing in any way.”

Anthony Michael Kreis, a Georgia State University law professor who’s been following the case, criticized her comments in a post on X.

“If I were Fani Willis, I would simply not talk to the media at all at this point just out of an abundance of caution,” Kreis said.