Lawyers for co-defendants in the high-profile case against former President Donald Trump said during a Georgia Senate hearing Wednesday that data from special prosecutor Nathan Wade’s cell phone was used before Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis hired him. He testified that he was shown visiting her home at 1 a.m.
Mr. Willis last year indicted Mr. Trump and 18 co-defendants, including Republican political operative Michael Roman, but first Mr. Wade, whom Mr. Willis hired to help prosecute the case against Mr. Trump, He filed a complaint alleging that he had an “improper” relationship with.
Mr. Roman, represented by Ashley Merchant, claimed that Mr. Willis benefited financially by hiring Mr. Wade because of his extramarital affair.
At a hearing Wednesday before a committee created this year by the Republican-controlled state Senate, Merchant said information on Wade’s cell phone data showed he had rented a condominium Willis rented before Wade was hired. He testified that the evidence showed that he had visited the area many times.
“It goes all the way from his house to the condo at 1 a.m., and when he gets there, he calls her. Then there’s silence for four or five hours. And then, you know, in the early morning hours, he calls her. starts pinging again, drives back, and texts her when he gets home,” Merchant said, describing the geolocation data from Wade’s cell phone.
Trump lawyer gives closing argument on Da Fani Willis’s ‘inappropriate’ extramarital affair allegations: ‘Irreparable stain’
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)
In a lawsuit filed in Fulton County Superior Court last month, state attorneys testified that geolocation data was unreliable as evidence. But Marchant said Wednesday that the state is “currently using the same data in another court to prosecute someone, and our defense in court has argued that that data is unreliable.” .
A state judge is currently reviewing evidence against Willis’ alleged fraud and considering whether he and his team should be disbarred from the case.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers created a special committee with subpoena powers to investigate the Fulton County district attorney.
At Wednesday’s committee hearing, Merchant also announced that Willis, on September 15, 2021, would increase the DA’s budget by $780,000 for the next fiscal year through the end of the same year by $780,000. He testified that he admitted it. Merchant said the DA claimed the money was meant to hire additional personnel to help with the backlog of homicide cases the department was handling at the time.
The budget increase came just months before Wade was hired in November 2021 and about eight months before a special grand jury in the case was set to hear the case in May 2022.
Fani Willis and Nathan Wade sent to Georgia state bar for illegal activity by watchdog group
Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis and Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade. (Getty Images)
Ms. Merchant testified that when she filed a public records request to confirm that her office was hiring new employees and not special contractors, her request was denied by the prosecutor’s office.
Merchant went on to say that the key witness in the accusations against Willis, former law partner, divorce lawyer and Wade’s “best friend” Terrence Bradley, “didn’t like the way he treated” Wade’s wife. He said he told Mr. Willis.
“I specifically remember him saying things like, “I’ll do my own thing,” and “I can’t leave my wife without alimony,” he said.
“Wade was married and a stay-at-home mom for almost 30 years, and literally right after I dropped my youngest off at college, she said, ‘Get out,'” Merchant said of Wade’s marriage. Ta.
Ms Merchant said it was Ms Bradley who encouraged her to seek out Ms Willis’ former “best friend” Robin Yearty. Robin Yearty told the court last month that Willis and Wade had been in a “romantic” relationship since 2019. This contradicts Willis and Wade’s claims. The court alleged that their relationship began after Wade was hired by the DA’s office in 2021.
Ms. Merchant said that when her client filed the complaint alleging an extramarital affair, it “shocked” the world because “very few” people knew about the relationship.
Georgia prosecutor claims Fani Willis asked Bradley not to testify against extramarital affair: ‘They’re coming after us’
Michael Roman’s attorney, Ashley Merchant, speaks next to her husband, John Merchant, who also represents Roman, during a hearing in the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump case. (Alyssa Pointerpool/Getty Images)
Republican Sen. Bill Cowsert sought to investigate Mr. Merchant’s knowledge of calls made to Bradley after the affair was reported and to determine whether he was the source. One call came from Gabe Banks, an attorney with ties to Wade, and the other from a close friend of Bradley, in which Wade called Bradley and claimed attorney-client privilege, who had once been Wade’s divorce attorney. He allegedly asked her to “remind him.”
Merchant said Bradley was one of the few people who knew about the incident.
Mr Merchant said Mr Bradley took the call as a “threat”.
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Mr. Merchant also testified that in February 2023, Mr. Willis, along with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, met with Vice President Harris at the White House.
White House officials said Wednesday that the vice president did not have the opportunity to speak directly to most of the guests, including Willis, at the February reception at the residence.
FOX News Digital reached out to Willis and Wade for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.
FOX News’ Claudia Kelly Bazan contributed to this report.
