ATLANTA — In a portion of an extended interview set to air this Sunday on 11Alive's politics show, The Georgia Vote, a key player in the Fulton County election interference case reflects on her role defending one of former president Donald Trump's co-defendants.
One year ago this week, Ashleigh Merchant said she was watching "just like the rest of the world" as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis unveiled a sweeping election interference case against the former president and 18 others.
She soon became a major player in the case, taking up the defense of one of Trump's co-defendants: GOP campaign operative Michael Roman.
Merchant filed a motion that upended the case in January, accusing the D.A. of having a romantic relationship with the special prosecutor tapped to help lead the prosecution.
Hear more from Merchant this Sunday at 11 a.m. on The Georgia Vote on 11Alive.
Willis and that special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, later admitted they indeed had, for a time, shared a relationship -- though both argued it never interfered with their ability to impartially prosecute the case.
Merchant and other defense attorneys disputed that, claiming the relationship created a conflict of interest and asked Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee -- who is overseeing the case -- to disqualify the entire district attorney's office. That question is now before the Georgia Court of Appeals and, until its resolved, the case cannot proceed to trial. A ruling isn't expected until 2025.
That means voters will cast their ballots in November without knowing the outcome of former president Trump's Fulton County case.
During an interview for 11Alive's Sunday politics show, The Georgia Vote, Merchant said she has no regrets.
"I think what caused the voters to not know what happened in this case is Ms. Willis and her actions," said Merchant. "Not me bringing to light those actions."
"They had a choice and could have done it differently," she added.
The attorney said she was professionally obligated to defend her client.
"I know that there were a lot of supporters of Ms. Willis and so I knew that there was going to be some backlash," she continued. "But I did what I had to do."
The Fulton County District Attorney's office did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this story.