Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks at a news conference alongside District Attorney Nathan Wade after a grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump and his allies for their attempt to overturn the state’s 2020 election results on August 14, 2023 in Atlanta tip, had brought back.
Elijah Nouvelage | Reuters
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis lashed out at a defense attorney Thursday as she began testifying before a judge who is considering barring her from prosecuting Donald Trump on election interference allegations.
“It’s ridiculous to me that you lied on Monday and yet we’re here,” Willis told attorney Ashleigh Merchant on the witness stand.
The hearing in Fulton County Superior Court centers on allegations of a romantic relationship with attorney Nathan Wade, one of the lead prosecutors in the criminal case.
Willis and Wade have denied that their relationship began before November 2021, when Wade became a special prosecutor. Before Willis took the stand, a witness claimed that the relationship began years before Wade joined the case.
The timeline is crucial to the argument over whether the prosecutors’ relationship presents a conflict of interest that warrants their exclusion from the criminal case.
Attorney Fani Willis appears as a witness during a hearing in the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump case at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, on February 15, 2024.
Alyssa Pointer | Reuters
Robin Yeartie, a former district attorney’s office employee who described herself as a “good friend” of Willis, testified earlier Thursday that the prosecutors’ relationship began in late 2019.
Appearing on Zoom, Yeartie said she had “no doubt” about the timeline.
But Wade, who followed Yeartie on the stand, testified that his romantic relationship with Willis began in 2022.
Willis also stated that she has been dating Wade since early 2022.
Wade said he exchanged pleasantries with Willis for about three minutes at a judicial conference in 2019. He said he spoke to her two or three more times this year and noted that she felt comfortable asking him about legal issues, such as the racial makeup of certain benches.
Fulton County Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade testifies during a hearing on whether District Attorney Fani Willis should be disbarred from prosecuting Georgia’s election interference case against former President Donald Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta on February 15, 2024.
Alyssa Pointer | Reuters
The two spoke to each other more often in 2020, but it was “not an everyday thing,” Wade testified. They spoke even more often in 2021, he said.
Wade also testified that he did not recall traveling with Willis in 2021 or earlier. When asked about trips they later took together, Wade said Willis would reimburse him for parts of that trip in cash.
The prosecutor said he never discussed his personal relationship on social media. “We are private citizens,” Wade said. “Our relationship wasn’t a secret, it was just private.”
He added that his relationship with Willis ended around June 2023, but they remained close.
Willis accused Trump and 18 others of trying to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election in Georgia. Trump pleaded not guilty to 13 criminal charges in the case. A number of Trump’s co-defendants have already reached agreements with prosecutors.
Trump is not present at the hearing in Fulton County Superior Court. Instead, he attended a separate hearing in New York City in the Manhattan district attorney’s hush money criminal case.
Judge Scott McAfee on Monday denied Willis’ efforts to cancel the evidentiary hearing, saying he believed it was possible that “the facts alleged by the defendant could result in disqualification.”
Those comments came during a hearing on Willis’ attempt to dismiss motions from defendant Michael Roman, who initially asked that the charges be dismissed and Willis be disqualified based on her alleged personal and financial conflicts.
Witness Robin Yeartie is seen on a screen as she is sworn in during a hearing in the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump case at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, February 15, 2024.
Alyssa Pointer | Reuters
Roman’s court filing cited Wade’s divorce proceedings, which were under seal at the time, and said they showed him and Willis traveling together to “vacation destinations” and buying cruise tickets.
Willis called Roman’s claims “factually inaccurate, unfounded and malicious.”
Trump’s lawyers joined Roman’s motions in late January. The former president has since claimed that the Georgia case was “totally discredited” by Willis and Wade’s relationship.
The district attorney had denied several allegations made by Roman’s attorneys in a court hearing in early February, even though she and Wade had admitted to the relationship.
She denied that their relationship began before Wade became special prosecutor in the case. She also denied that the relationship interfered with her “exercise of any prosecutorial discretion.”
Wade added in an affidavit accompanying Willis that he had “no financial interest” in the outcome of the case and that “no monies paid to me as compensation for my role as special prosecutor were passed on or provided to the district attorney.” Willis.
Willis “received no funds or personal financial gain from my position as special prosecutor,” he wrote.
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Thursday’s morning session of the hearing was derailed by frequent objections from the state’s lawyers and numerous disputes over whether some witness testimony was protected by attorney-client privilege.
Terrence Bradley, Wade’s divorce lawyer, was the first witness called to the stand, but he was dismissed due to a privilege dispute after answering only a handful of questions.
Yeartie followed up and testified that before November 2021, she witnessed Willis and Wade being “affectionate.”
Under cross-examination, Yeartie said she was once accused of poor performance at her job in the district attorney’s office and that she resigned from her position under the assumption that she would otherwise be fired.
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.
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2024-02-15 20:28:55
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