Potentially damning text messages detailing when Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis and Nathan Wade’s affair began will be weighed as a judge decides whether to fire the top prosecutor in President Trump’s election fraud case will not be considered – dealing a blow to the former president’s case.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled Friday that text messages between Wade’s former divorce attorney, Terrence Bradley, and another defense attorney revealed that Bradley disclosed information covered by attorney-client privilege. Therefore, it is not admissible as evidence.
Ashley Merchant, an attorney representing Trump co-defendant Mike Roman, who has spearheaded the effort to remove Willis from the case, said in testimony Friday that she would introduce messages with Bradley as evidence. did.
“I sent you the following statement [Wade and Willis] Ms. Merchant asked Ms. Bradley as she read their messages.
Willis became chief judge in South Fulton, Georgia, in 2019, but gave up that position when he was elected prosecutor in 2021, making the period Bradley was referring to less than that. The couple first became romantically involved in 2022, a long time ago. .
The key question is when Willis’ relationship with Wade, whom he hired as special prosecutor in the election fraud case, began.
Roman claims the two were romantically involved before Wade was appointed to the case in 2021, creating a conflict of interest and saying Willis should be disqualified from prosecuting the case. .
Wade and Willis, who are still in the process of divorcing their wives, both claim they didn’t start dating until 2022 and broke up a year later.
But McAfee ultimately blocked this and other messages from being admitted into evidence, saying they were covered by attorney-client privilege from when Bradley worked as Wade’s divorce attorney.
“He may have said something to you, but there is no evidence that my client waived it or allowed him to tell you that,” McAfee told Merchant.
Another document between Merchant and Bradley (who is also Wade’s former law partner) that the judge did not allow was that Merchant asked Bradley if he knew anyone who would give a sworn statement about the relationship between Wade and Willis. It was dated September 18, 2023, when I asked.
“No, no one is free to burn that bridge,” Ms. Merchant said, reading an email from Bradley.
Mr. Merchant and Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Stephen Sadow, vigorously pushed for the messages to be admitted into evidence and for Mr. Bradley to investigate their meaning.
Anna Cross, a lawyer from Mr Willis’ firm, argued that the messages were simply “gossip” between the two lawyers and therefore should not be made public.
Late Friday, Mr. McAfee announced that he would be investigating whether he actually had grounds to invoke attorney-client privilege after it was revealed that he had improperly used it on another topic. He said he would meet privately with Lee and his lawyer.
If Mr. Willis is found to have lied under oath, or if it can be proven that Mr. Merchant improperly employed Mr. Wade and profited from his high compensation, then There will be grounds for dismissal.
Judge McAfee is scheduled to rule on the case next week.
