Tom Pappert, reporter for The Georgia Star News and lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, said he believes diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies were part of the explanation as to how Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, special prosecutor Nathan Wade, and attorney Terrance Bradley were hired into positions of influence.
Pappert made his remarks during Wednesday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy in response to host Leahy’s question about the pattern of wrongdoing among Willis, Wade, and Bradley.
Bradley, who testified this week on details about the romantic relationship between Wade and Willis that has derailed the 2020 Georgia election case against former President Donald Trump, was allegedly forced out of his previous law firm partnership with Wade over allegations of sexual assault.
“What is in the water down there in Atlanta with all these attorneys? Because I mean, apparently, you know, they cannot escape from sexual harassment or inappropriate sexual behavior every time you turn around,” Leahy remarked.
“I think it’s DEI that’s in the water,” Pappert, who has reported extensively on the case, replied. “I think there is a lot of diversity and inclusion and equity going on down there and it seems to be causing these people to get to positions of influence they have no business being a part of.”
Pappert went on to describe Bradley’s testimony this week as a “dentist pulling teeth out of an unwilling patient the entire day.”
“You used the word weasel a moment ago, Mike, and I’d say that was pretty accurate,” Pappert said. “I can’t really understand exactly why this guy is being so loyal to Nathan Wade and Fani Willis, except that he did at one point testify that Nathan Wade’s new law partner, Gabe Banks, had called and requested that he keep silent about any information he has about the affair. And it’s interesting to note that that man’s wife, Kyra Banks, is now Willis’ chief of staff. But this aside, it was very much a dentist pulling teeth out of an unwilling patient the entire day, even as he continued to let out bombshell after bombshell at one point saying, ‘Oh dang,’ under his breath after realizing exactly what mess he’d created for Nathan and Willis.”
“At one point, Ashley Merchant, who again, the lawyer who unearthed all of these allegations against Willis and Wade, looked at the judge and said, ‘Every time I ask Terrence Bradley a question, he’s looking at Nathan Wade and their attorneys to look for them to intervene.’ You can’t tell me these people are not working,” Pappert added.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Fani Willis” by Fulton County District Attorney’s Office.
