A Georgia judge ruled Friday that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade provided her with financial benefits and disqualified her from the case against former President Donald Trump. I made a final argument arguing that this should be the case.
Willis and her office are leading a wide-ranging extortion case against the former president and 18 co-defendants. Several co-defendants, including Michael Roman, accused Willis earlier this year of hiring Wade while they were in a relationship and benefiting from Wade’s government salary through lavish vacations they took together. did.
Willis and Wade have both denied the allegations, claiming their relationship began after Wade was hired in 2021. Willis claimed in court testimony that he would always repay Wade in cash for their trips together. There were no receipts for these redemptions, and one witness claimed that their relationship began as early as 2019.
Roman’s attorney, John Merchant, argued Friday that Georgia law is clear in that the judge should use the legal standard of an “appearance” of conflict sufficient to disqualify Willis. Wade said it was “part of a plan that she intentionally created.” She does it for the benefit of her boyfriend. ”
Attorney Adam Abate argued to the contrary that the legal standard for disbarment is actual dispute. Fani Willis was present in court for some time during the state’s briefing.
Fulton County’s Da Fani charged with lying about timing of affair with Trump prosecutor
Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, previously said the accusation that she had an “inappropriate” romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade was made because she is Black. (Getty Images)
Abate disputed accusations that Willis hired Wade for financial gain. Because she asked the court for a speedy trial. In other words, the sooner the trial is scheduled, the less time she has to reap financial benefits.
He also said that if Willis had a “plan” to hire prosecutors to financially benefit her, one would think that she would have dated other candidates she was considering for the job. insisted.
”[Y]If she had such a grand scheme to profit from this prosecution, I have to believe that in addition to Mr. Wade, she was also dating former governors Roy Burns and Gabe Banks. Probably not, because that’s the purpose. That’s what they say,” Abate said.
“Or she could be saying that she telepathically or prophetically knew that Mr. Burns and Mr. Banks would turn down the job and was then able to hire Mr. Wade. That’s ridiculous,” he added. Ta.
Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Steve Sadow, said that Mr. Wills’ comments at a church earlier this month insinuating that the alleged affair was racially motivated were a “calculated move” to “prejudice the defendant and his lawyer.” He claimed that it was a “decision made”.
Each side had 90 minutes to present their case to the judge.
former president donald trump (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
At the end of the hearing, McAfee said he would consider all arguments and make a decision on the matter within the next two weeks.
Harry McDougled, a lawyer for co-defendant Jeffrey Clark, said the Willis controversy had “irreparably tainted the case”.
“Think about the message that would be sent if they were not disqualified. If this were tolerated, we would have more information. This office will be held accountable for their actions. They have become the laughing stock of the world. They should be disqualified and the case should be dismissed,” he said.
Before Friday’s closing arguments began, Judge Scott McAfee weighed in on newly revealed text message data that allegedly showed Wade visited Willis’ private home at least 35 times before he was hired. We considered whether it would be admissible as evidence.
Wade testified last month that he had not visited Willis’ apartment more than 10 times before he was hired in November 2021. Willis and Wade claim their relationship began in early 2022.
Cell phone data shows Wade made two late-night visits to Willis’ apartment, not leaving until the next morning.
Both Wade and Willis testified that they did not sleep together at Willis’ apartment in Haperville.
Key witness in Fani Willis case says she may have lied in text about friend’s affair
Terrence Bradley, divorce attorney and former law partner of Nathan Wade, testifies during a hearing on misconduct allegations against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta on February 27, 2024. (Bryn Anderson/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
The defense seeks to prove the existence and scope of Wade’s financial interest in Willis. from their relationshipthis is the crux of their argument that Willis should be disqualified.
Earlier this week, former law firm partner and divorce attorney Terrence Bradley testified under oath about what he knew about Willis and Wade’s personal relationship.Bradley took the stand after McAfee determined that he could not make a case. Attorney-client privilege.
When Bradley was asked to take the oath, he said he couldn’t remember. Some details and timeline About a conversation he had with his former client Wade about his romantic relationship with Willis.
During nearly two hours of testimony Tuesday in Fulton County Superior Court, Bradley said more than 20 times he couldn’t remember important details or specific information. He also said he only discussed Wade’s relationship with Willis once.
Earlier this month, Willis’ father, John C. Floyd III, took the stand and confirmed that his father taught Willis to always keep large amounts of cash on hand. She said these funds were used to repay Wade’s lavish travel expenses, so there was no record of the payments.
Floyd also said she didn’t meet Wade until 2023 and didn’t know her daughter was in a relationship with him until about seven weeks ago, when allegations of cheating against Willis were first filed in court. Stated.
Text messages show timeline of events that disqualified Fani Willis, Trump campaign claims
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testifies during a hearing in the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump case at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta on February 15, 2024. (Alyssa Pointer)
Michael Roman, a Republican political operative and co-defendant in the Trump case, first argued that there was a conflict of interest in the case because Willis benefited financially from hiring his girlfriend. Four co-defendants have also made similar accusations.
The defense team, led by John Merchant, is also trying to prove that Willis and Wade had a romantic relationship before Wade took a job in the DA’s office.
Robin Yearty, a former “good friend” of Mr Willis and an employee of the DA’s office, said there was “no doubt” that the relationship between Mr Willis and Mr Wade began after they met at a news conference in 2019. He testified.
Willis rejected Yearty’s testimony and said he no longer considered Yearty a friend.
The highlight of the two-day case was Willis’ own and unexpected testimony. Experts are “belligerent.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
She argued for hours with her lawyer, and at one point the judge threatened to quash her testimony. She also frowned as she appeared to be wearing her dress backwards. The next day she did not return to her witness stand.
“It is clear that disqualification may occur if evidence of an actual dispute or the appearance of a dispute is presented,” McAfee said at the start of proceedings this month.
Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo and Timothy Nerozzi contributed to this report.
