Witness stand weighs on Fani
DA fears testifying about her beau
Embattled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis may be forced to testify at a hearing later this week about when her relationship with Trump prosecutor Nathan Wade began, a judge said Monday.
The DA and Wade — whom Willis appointed as a special prosecutor in the Georgia electionfraud case against the former president and over a dozen others — had both been seeking to get out of testifying at a court hearing Thursday where Trump co-defendant Mike Roman will seek to have the criminal case dropped against him over the prosecutors’ alleged misconduct.
But Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said Monday in court Roman’s lawyer had “established a good-faith basis” for the prosecutorial duo’s testimony and for testimony from other employees in the DA’s office.
He also made clear the hearing would focus on Roman’s charges of whether Willis had benefited financially by hiring Wade and when they first became involved romantically.
He warned: “Disqualification can occur if evidence is produced demonstrating an actual conflict or the appearance of one.”
Donald Trump himself plans to attend that Thursday hearing, sources told The Washington Post, which would mark his first appearance in the Georgia court since he was indicted alongside 18 others last August.
Inside the tangled web
Although the hearing is linked to Roman’s case, Trump’s lawyers are also arguing to have Willis thrown off his case, saying she has tainted the case by bringing racial issues into it with her public comments since her relationship with Wade was uncovered.
On Monday McAfee said he wouldn’t hesitate to cut off any questioning by Roman’s lawyer, Ashleigh Merchant, that would cause “undue embarrassment” of Willis and other witnesses.
The judge said that Roman’s “star witness” Terrence Bradley — who is Wade’s former law partner and former divorce lawyer — would have to testify first, as Merchant attempts to disprove claims that a married Wade and Willis’ romantic relationship started after Wade began working on the Trump probe and to disprove they never lived together.
Merchant argued earlier Monday Bradley would testify that the relationship between Willis and Wade began before he signed his first contract with the DA’s office in November 2021 — a claim the pair denied earlier this month, insisting their relationship didn’t become romantic until 2022.
But Wade and Willis said in court papers filed by the DA’s office on Feb. 2 there was no conflict-of-interest in them having a romantic relationship.
They claimed they don’t live together, don’t share finances and alternated paying for the vacations they went on together.
Anna Cross, a lawyer for the DA’s office, argued by video Monday that neither Willis, Wade nor any of the other eight DA employees Roman subpoenaed to testify should be forced to take the witness stand Thursday.