ATLANTA — A highly-anticipated hearing over motions to disqualify Fulton County DA Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade from the 2020 Georgia election RICO case played out Thursday in an Atlanta courtroom.
One of the attorneys who has featured most prominently -- and in fact is the attorney chiefly responsible for this hearing coming about -- is Ashleigh Merchant.
As Merchant has questioned witnesses, including Wade himself, she has drawn attention from court observers. Here's a bit more about her and how she got to this point.
Who is Ashleigh Merchant?
Merchant is the attorney for Michael Roman, one of the 19 codefendants originally indicted in the case along with former President Donald Trump.
Roman is a Philadelphia GOP operative who was director of Election Day operations for Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign. He faces seven charges, including multiple conspiracy charges. The charges stem from several events, including his alleged role in the Trump "alternate" elector scheme.
He had been one of the lesser-profile codefendants until Merchant brought the motion last month to disqualify Willis, alleging the relationship between Willis and Wade that Wade has since acknowledged in court filings.
At question in Thursday's hearing is when the relationship began and if it produced improper financial benefits for Wade and Willis.
Prior to this case, Merchant has been a well-known metro Atlanta attorney who runs her own firm, The Merchant Law Firm.
Her firm's website explains her origins as a criminal defense attorney:
While in law school, Ashleigh clerked for a criminal defense attorney where she was able to gain insight and experience into the field of criminal law all throughout the nation. Ashleigh had the unusual opportunity to defend a woman who had been charged with capital murder in a case that Ashleigh took all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Through her passionate efforts, she changed the standard that criminal defendants must meet in order to have their convictions reversed for poor quality legal representation at the trial level.
She has also previously worked in the Fulton County Public Defender's Office and the Southern Center for Human Rights.
The Trump proceedings are not her first high-profile case in Georgia by any stretch -- she was retained by Ryan Duke in the prominent Tara Grinstead case down in Irwin County.
Her firm's sit describes her as a "natural human rights advocate and firm believer in defending the rights of the criminally accused."