Witness in Ga. case evasive over DA’s romantic ties
ATLANTA — A former law partner of Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade was evasive on the witness stand Tuesday as lawyers pressed him on details about a romantic relationship between Wade and District Attorney Fani Willis that has roiled the 2020 Georgia election case against Donald Trump.
Terrence Bradley, who also served for a time as Wade’s divorce attorney, was expected to be a key witness for lawyers seeking to remove Willis from one of four criminal cases against Trump. But when they questioned him, Bradley repeatedly said he didn’t know or couldn’t remember when Willis and Wade’s relationship began.
When lawyers confronted Bradley about a text message in which he said the relationship started when Willis was working as a municipal court judge, Bradley told the court he had only been speculating. Defense lawyers appeared to grow frustrated with his lack of answers, with Trump’s lawyer at one point essentially accusing Bradley of lying on the witness stand.
“You do in fact know when it started. And you don’t want to testify to that in court, that’s the best explanation, isn’t it?” attorney Steve Sadow asked. “That’s the true explanation because you don’t want to admit it in court, correct?”
Bradley’s testimony was thought to be potentially crucial as defense attorneys seek to undercut Willis and Wade’s claims about when their romantic relationship began. That timeline has become a central issue as defense attorneys push to have the pair disqualified from the case, arguing that their relationship created a conflict of interest.
Bradley’s testimony provided the latest courtroom foray into the personal lives of the prosecutors pursuing a hugely consequential prosecution of the former president. It further laid bare how an investigation that began with direct evidence of Trump’s efforts to remain in power has instead taken on a soap opera atmosphere, bogged down by testimony about sex, dating, cash stashes, and text messages involving neither Trump nor any of the defendants but rather the law enforcement officials.