A Georgia judge ruled Friday that District Attorney Fani Willis cannot put “stakes” on the testimony of a key witness and said the prosecution can continue if former President Donald Trump’s ex-girlfriend is removed from the defense team. Ta.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ordered Willis on Friday to withdraw himself and his team from the massive election interference case against former President Trump in 2020, or special prosecutors accused of an “illicit” affair. He issued an order directing him to either dismiss Officer Nathan Wade. .
Mr. McAfee is Mr. Wade’s former partner, divorce lawyer Terrence Bradley, who is considered a key witness for the defense team seeking to prove that Mr. Wade had a romantic relationship with Mr. Willis before his employment. “I can’t make any evaluations” of the testimony, he said. .
Attorney Ashley Merchant, who represents co-defendant Michael Roman, who first filed the original complaint against Willis and Wade, asked Bradley on the stand last month what he knew about their romance and when. He lashed out at her for knowing.
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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis watches a hearing in the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump case at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta on March 1, 2024. (Alex Slitspool/Getty Images)
Willis and Wade both claimed their relationship began in 2022, after Wade was hired. But that claim contradicted testimony from some witnesses during a two-day evidentiary hearing last month.
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.
Merchant at one point referenced text messages between himself and Bradley in which he asked Bradley if he thought the relationship began before Willis hired Wade in 2021, but that Bradley In response to this exchange, I answered, “Absolutely.”
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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)
McAfee said in Friday’s order that Bradley’s “inconsistency, demeanor, and overall unresponsive responses provide too weak a foundation on which to base conclusions.”
“Under Georgia law, prior inconsistent statements can be considered substantive evidence, but Mr. Bradley’s impeachment via text message indicates that Mr. Bradley did not discuss Mr. Wade’s personal circumstances,” McAfee said. “There was no established basis for claiming to have such extensive knowledge.”
Robin Yearty, a former “good friend” of Mr Willis and a former employee of the DA’s office, told the court there was “no doubt” that the relationship between Mr Willis and Mr Wade began after they met at a news conference in 2019. No,” he testified.
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Robin Yearty, a former employee of the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, on screen is sworn in at the Fulton County Courthouse on Thursday, February 15, 2024, in Atlanta. (Alyssa Pointer)
She observed Willis and Wade “hugging” and “kissing” and showing “affection” prior to November 2021, and that the two had been in a “romantic” relationship since 2019 and that Willis He testified that he had no doubt that this continued until the last time he spoke. In 2022.
Willis rejected Yearty’s testimony and said he no longer considered Yearty a friend.
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“Robin Yearty’s testimony raised questions about the state’s claims, but ultimately lacked context and detail,” Judge McAfee wrote in Friday’s order.
”[N]”Both sides were ultimately able to establish by a preponderance of the evidence when the relationship developed into something romantic,” he added.
Still, the judge said, “there remains a whiff of fabrication,” adding, “reasonable doubt remains as to whether the district attorney and her hand-picked lead SADA will serve as presiding judge.” [special assistant district attorney] The false testimony about the timing of the relationship further confirms the need to make reasonable efforts to identify and correct misconduct. ”
