LIVE: Judge to consider removing DA from Donald Trump's Georgia election case – KCTV 5
ATLANTA (WANF/Gray News) – Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis has made international headlines in her unrelenting investigation and subsequent indictment of former President Donald Trump.
But since January, Willis has been making news around the world for her now-acknowledged personal relationship she has with a special prosecutor she hired to assist in her prosecution of Trump.
Thursday, Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade may learn if they’ll be allowed to continue their indictment of the man who will likely be the Republican nominee for president this year.
A former friend and co-worker of Willis testified Thursday that Willis’ personal relationship with a special prosecutor began before she hired him to lead the election interference case against Donald Trump.
Robin Yeartie’s testimony directly contradicts statements from Willis and Wade that their personal relationship didn’t begin until after Wade was hired in November 2021. Wade, who took the witness stand after Yeartie, testified that his relationship with Willis began in early 2022.
In a court filing earlier this month, Willis and Wade said they were not in a personal relationship when Wade was hired, and that he and Willis shared travel expenses and never lived together.
But Yeartie, who previously worked in the district attorney’s office, testified that she saw Wade and Willis hugging and kissing prior to November 2021.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing one of American judicial history’s most politically and socially complex cases, is holding a hearing to possibly decide whether Willis and Wade should be disqualified from further pursuing their indictment.
McAfee is hearing evidence from prosecutors and defense attorneys to determine if Wade benefitted personally and financially from the couple’s arrangement.
Willis is the locally elected district attorney who issued dozens of indictments in August 2023 accusing Trump and his allies of trying to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results.
But in early January, an explosive court filing by Michael Roman, one of Trump’s co-defendants, and his attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, accused Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade of having a romantic relationship.
Roman is a former White House aide who served as the director of Trump’s election day operations. Prosecutors allege Roman was involved in efforts to put forth a set of fake electors after the 2020 election, a charge to which Roman has pleaded not guilty.
Roman’s court filing claims Willis and Wade took lavish vacations together and that Wade used part of his salary from the district attorney’s office to travel with Willis. Merchant also claims to have discovered “outside of court filings” that Willis and Wade went on trips together.
On Friday, Roman filed another stunning court document, claiming Bradley will testify Willis and Wade had a personal relationship before Willis hired Wade.
“Willis and Wade claim they did not have a personal, romantic relationship before Willis appointed Wade as a special prosecutor, but Terrence Bradley (”Bradley”) will refute that claim,” Roman’s court filing said. “Bradley is an attorney and a member of the Georgia Bar. Bradley and Wade were friends and business associates. Bradley has non-privileged, personal knowledge that the romantic relationship between Wade and Willis began prior to Willis being sworn as the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia in January 2021.”
Earlier this week, McAfee ruled Terrence Bradley will be allowed to testify on Thursday. But whether Willis and Wade will testify themselves on Thursday or at some later date is still undecided.
McAfee wants to hear testimony from other subpoenaed members of Willis and Wade’s innermost circles — friends, family and members of their press and security teams — before deciding if their direct testimony is relevant or necessary.
During the hearing, Robin Yeartie, a friend of Willis, testified that the relationship between Willis and Wade didn’t begin until after Wade was hired, according to the Associated Press.
Around a dozen people linked to Willis and Wade received subpoenas from defense attorneys intending to find out more about the romantic relationship the two shared: when it began, and whether the two benefited from Wade’s large contract with the district attorney’s office.
Even Willis’ father and a friend who rented her a home were subpoenaed to create a clearer picture of the relationship that some indictment defendants say is a conflict of interest and grounds for removing the DA from the case altogether.
Copyright 2024 WANF via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.