District Attorney Fani Willis will not testify again Friday morning after spending three hours on the witness stand Thursday answering intense questions about her affair with Donald Trump prosecutor Nathan Wade.
The embattled Fulton County prosecutor was scheduled to resume testimony at 9 a.m. Friday, but attorneys for the DA’s office informed Judge Scott McAfee that they would no longer question the top prosecutor.
Following this revelation, Ashley Merchant, the attorney for President Trump’s co-defendant Mike Roman, scrambled to find the next witness, Terence Bradley. He was not scheduled to appear in court until late in the morning due to a medical appointment.
In the meantime, lawyers for both sides have declined to answer questions that Mr. Bradley, Mr. Wade’s former law partner and one-time divorce lawyer, declined to answer Thursday, citing attorney-client privilege. There will be a debate on whether it should be made compulsory.
Mr. Bradley, who was expected to be Mr. Merchant’s star witness, took the stand briefly on Thursday, but the hearing began with a soft thud rather than the fireworks he was expected to have.
When Merchant starts asking questions about when Wade and Willis started dating, Bradley, who was once Wade’s legal representative in Wade’s ongoing and controversial divorce, refuses to answer any questions about Wade. He said he could not answer.
But McAfee seemed skeptical that Bradley could use attorney-client privilege to avoid all questions.
Mr. Merchant last month launched a bombshell investigation into Mr. Willis’ relationship with Mr. Wade in an effort to remove Mr. Willis from the case and drop criminal charges of election fraud against Mr. Roman.
The former president and many of the other 14 remaining co-defendants later joined Roman’s motion to disbar Willis.
Willis and Wade mended their romance earlier this month, but insisted their relationship would not begin until 2022 after Willis appointed Wade to the post of special prosecutor in November 2021.
The two testified separately Thursday that they separated in the summer of 2023.
Willis’ testimony was combative, accusing Merchant of lying and telling her lawyer not to “coddle” her.
At one point, Willis became so angry that he yelled, “Lies!” It’s not true! ”, he immediately took a five-minute break, reminded the prosecutor not to interfere, and warned him that if he continued, his plea would be expunged from the record.
