Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis lashed out at defense attorneys on Thursday in a court hearing over corruption allegations surrounding her relationship with the special prosecutor leading the case to take down former President Donald Trump and nearly two dozen Republicans.
The hearing in question regarded a pretrial motion filed on Jan. 8 by co-defendant Michael Roman, one of 19 Republicans indicted by Willis’ office in August for his role in challenging Georgia’s 2020 election results. The motion sought to have the charges against Roman dismissed on various grounds, one of which alleged that Willis was involved in a romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom Willis appointed to the position.
As summarized by The Daily Caller, the filing more specifically claimed Willis “benefited from appointing Wade when he took her on vacations using funds earned from his ‘lucrative’ contract” and seeks to have Willis disqualified from overseeing his case.
Willis and Wade acknowledged the romantic relationship in a Feb. 2 court filing and maintained it “has never involved direct or indirect financial benefit.” Both parties also claimed the relationship did not begin until spring 2022 — months after Wade was appointed as special prosecutor on Nov. 1, 2021 — and lasted until summer 2023.
That doesn’t match testimony from Robin Bryant-Yeartie, a former friend of Willis who previously worked in the Fulton County attorney’s office. Bryant-Yeartie claimed there was “no doubt” Willis and Wade were in a romantic relationship as early as 2019, contradicting testimony by the former lovers that their relationship started in spring 2022. It’s worth noting that Wade filed for divorce from his wife the day after he was appointed special prosecutor.
Fireworks quickly erupted during Thursday’s hearing when a visibly angry Willis was asked by a co-defendant’s attorney if Wade ever visited her home. Picking up several documents before her, Willis accused the defense of lying about the situation.
“So let’s be clear ’cause you lied in this. … Let me tell you which one you lied in. … Right here. I think you lied right here,” Willis said, grasping the papers. While Judge Scott McAfee attempted to gavel her down, Willis continued, shouting: “No, no, no, this is the truth. It is a lie! It is a lie!”
The Fulton County DA separately took a political jab at her prosecuted victims, saying to defense lawyers: “You’re confused. You think I’m on trial? These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020! I’m not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial!”
McAfee warned Willis her testimony would be stricken from the record should she avoid directly answering the questions posed by the defense. The judge indicated before Thursday’s hearing that Willis could potentially be disqualified from overseeing her office’s indictment of Trump and the other 18 Republican defendants “if evidence is produced demonstrating an actual conflict or the appearance of one.”
[READ: Fani Willis Possesses Evidence Exonerating Georgia’s Alternate Electors]
During their respective testimonies, Willis and Wade confirmed they took personal vacations together, including trips to Belize, Aruba, and Napa Valley, California. Both parties also claimed that in several of these cases, Wade would pay for the travel expenses and Willis would later reimburse him with cash. Wade’s estranged wife produced credit card statements several weeks ago showing “he bought plane tickets for himself and Ms. Willis after he began working for her office.”
When pressed on why she paid Wade with cash, Willis claimed she didn’t withdraw the funds from her bank account but used money from cash stored at her home. Willis maintained it’s a habit she learned from her father. “When you meet my father, he’s going to tell you as a woman, you should always have … at least six months in cash at your house at all time,” Willis said.
Court proceedings are set to resume on Friday at 9 a.m. ET.
