Fani Willis hearing: a salacious drama that could undermine Trump election interference case
ATLANTA – Perjury accusations and reports of death threats highlighted a second day of courtroom drama in a Georgia hearing to determine if District Attorney Fani Willis will be disqualified from the election interference trial of Donald Trump.
At issue are questions about whether Willis and Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired for the case, should be removed because of their romantic relationship.
The two days of hearings were filled with juicy details: talk of trips to Aruba and rented cabins and a Norwegian cruise. But underlying the salacious nature of the testimony is the future of one of the most important of the legal cases against Trump this year.
Here’s what we know about the case:
Willis sought to remind everyone who really is on trial
Willis and Wade each took the witness stand to describe their relationship, insisting it had nothing to do with the case against Trump.
"These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020,” Willis said, gesturing to the defense table. “I’m not on trial no matter how hard you try to put me on trial.”
A side spotlight on racism
Friday's courtroom action featured Willis' father, John Clifford Floyd III, testifying about death threats from the time Willis -- the first Black woman to serve as Fulton County District Attorney -- was sworn in to her job. “There were people outside her house cursing and yelling calling her the B-word and the N-word,” he said. “It was bizarre.”
Floyd also said he hadn't met Wade until last year, and only found out about their relationship a few weeks ago. Attorneys for the defense had sought to show there was a romantic relationship before Willis hired Wade.
His testimony spotlighted some of the conversation related to race that has underlined Willis' role in the Trump case. Floyd has a history in bringing attention to racism: He is a former Black Panther who renounced violence and then went to UCLA law school. On the witness stand, he talked about his past work for Nelson Mandela, and the fight to release him from prison.
More: 'Lies,' drama, champagne and caviar: takeaways from Fani Willis fight in Trump Georgia case
Defense lawyers accuse special prosecutor Nathan Wade of perjury
Defense lawyers accused special prosecutor Nathan Wade of perjury for denying his romantic relationship with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis began before he was hired in November 2021 to help prosecute Donald Trump and 14 remaining defendants on charges of election interference.
Wade and Willis each testified under oath that their relationship began in spring 2022 and ended in summer 2023. But defense lawyers contend the relationship began as early as 2019 and that Willis profited from it, so they should be disqualified from the case.
Terrence Bradley, a former law partner of Wade who represented him in his divorce, testified he didn’t know when the relationship began. “I have no personal knowledge of when it actually happened,” Bradley said.
More: Bombshell witness? A look at the man who may know all the secrets in the Fani Willis Trump drama
Merchant, who represents Mike Roman, and Steve Sadow, who represents Trump, say they have evidence Bradley knows more, which he refused to divulge, from the divorce case, citing attorney-client privilege. Merchant and Sadow argued Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee should force Bradley to testify because the privilege can’t be wielded to protect illegal acts like perjury.
“We’re talking about perjury, lying to the court,” Merchant said. “The witness, Mr. Wade, has committed perjury on the witness stand,” Sadow added later.
Anna Cross, a prosecutor, argued there is simply a conflict of evidence from witnesses in the case. Andrew Evans, Wade’s personal lawyer, declined comment and referred questions to the district attorney’s office.
McAfee didn’t force Bradley to testify about his communications with Wade. But McAfee said he might question Bradley confidentially with his lawyer present, to get answers about what more Bradley might know.
--Bart Jansen
‘So many death threats’: DA Fani Willis’s father
John Floyd, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s father, testified about the threats that forced her to move out of her new, four-bedroom house – and why he remained to guard it.
“Somebody needed to protect the house,” Floyd said.
Willis was sworn in Jan. 1, 2021, and on Feb. 3 at 5 a.m. a crowd of protesters appeared.
“There were people outside her house cursing and yelling calling her the B-word and the N-word,” Floyd, a retired criminal defense lawyer, said. “It was bizarre.”
Willis has moved four times since then. Floyd said he remained until December 2022, as a police car parked outside the house permanently and authorities sent a man with a bomb-sniffing dog around the house daily.
“They had been so many death threats,” Floyd said. “They said they were going to blow up the house. They were going to kill her. They were going to kill me. They were going to kill my grandchildren. I was concerned for her safety.”
--Bart Jansen
Willis’s father testifies he never met prosecutor boyfriend during key time 2019 to 2021
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s father, John Floyd, testified that she had a different boyfriend than prosecutor Nathan Wade during a period when defense lawyers in the election interference case against Donald Trump contend Willis and Wade were in a romantic relationship.
Defense lawyers contend Willis and Wade were dating in 2019 and 2020 – before she hired him for the case in November 2021 – and that she should be disqualified because she profited from the relationship.
Floyd said he moved from South Africa into her house in the spring or summer of 2019 and remained after she left because of threats in early 2021. Floyd said her boyfriend during that period was a disc jockey named Deuce, who was at the house nearly every day.
“I saw him often,” Floyd said.
Floyd said he didn’t recall meeting Wade until 2023. Floyd said he and his daughter don’t discuss their romantic relationships, and that he learned about her and Wade about seven weeks ago when it was publicized.
“I just found out when other folks found out,” Floyd said.
--Bart Jansen
Former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes testifies he turned down Trump special prosecutor job
Popular former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes testified Friday that he was approached by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for the job of special prosecutor in the election fraud case against former President Donald Trump, but he declined for personal and professional reasons.
“I had mouths to feed at a law office and I could not, I would not do that,” Barnes said under questioning by Adam Abbate of the DA's office.
Barnes said he met with Willis – and likely Wade, he couldn’t recall – in a conference room at the DA’s office, and told them he wasn’t interested. Besides his duties at his law firm, Barnes also cited unspecified threats as to why he didn’t want the job.
Barnes response: “I lived with bodyguards for four years and I didn’t like it and I didn’t want to live with bodyguards for the rest of my life.”
Defense lawyers, including Ashleigh Merchant and Steve Sadow, also questioned Barnes in an effort to determine what Barnes knew about why Willis ultimately hired private lawyer Nathan Wade for the top prosecutor job.
-- Josh Meyer
Hearing paused while waiting for witness
McAfee recessed the hearing about whether to disqualify District Attorney Fani Willis from the case against Trump and 14 remaining co-defendants because a witness was at a doctor’s appointment.
The witness, Terrence Bradley, was a former law partner of prosecutor Wade who represented Wade in his divorce. Bradley appeared Thursday, but refused to answer questions.
“I have a law license and I don’t want to lose it,” said Bradley, who acknowledged representing Wade starting in 2018.
More: 'Lies': Fani Willis fights push to remove her from Donald Trump Georgia case
McAfee ruled Friday that Bradley could refuse to answer questions based on attorney-client privilege.
Defense lawyers contend they can ask Bradley about what he observed about the relationship between Willis and Wade, without discussing legal communications he had with Wade. Defense lawyers are trying to show Willis and Wade became romantic in 2019. Willis and Wade previously acknowledged the romance began in 2022.
A representative for Bradley said he was at a doctor’s appointment and wasn’t expected at the courtroom until 10:30 a.m.
– Bart Jansen
Trump hits social media to bash Willis
Trump has spent the morning bashing Willis on social media and claiming the proceedings in Georgia have tainted the case against him.
"It was a FAKE CASE from the start," Trump said in one post on Truth Social, "now everybody sees it for what it is."
– David Jackson
More: Fani Willis admits to relationship with prosecutor. What does that mean for the Trump case?
Fani Willis doesn’t testify again
Prosecutors decided not to recall Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis because they had no other questions for her.
“The state has no further questions for Ms. Willis so no need to recall,” said Anna Cross, a prosecutor on the case.
Willis testified Thursday that she had a relationship with prosecutor Nathan Wade, which is why defense lawyers are trying to disqualify her from the case. She and Wade each said the relationship from April 2022 to summer 2023 was no reason for Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee to remove them.
– Bart Jansen
Prosecutors have 3 or 4 witnesses who could take 5 hours
Anna Cross, one of the prosecutors, said she expects to call three or four witnesses whose testimony could take four to five hours.
One witness will be John Floyd, the father of Willis.
Other witnesses will challenge the testimony of Robin Yeartie, a former longtime friend and work colleague of Willis. Yeartie said the relationship between Willis and Wade began in 2019.
But Willis and Wade each said it started in 2022. Willis said she felt Yeartie betrayed their friendship.
– Bart Jansen
Prosecutors to question Willis
Prosecutors initially sought to block a subpoena for Willis to testify, describing it as usual to call an opposing lawyer to testify. But Willis raced to the courtroom asking to give her side of the story.
Willis described having a romantic relationship with Wade from April 2022 to summer 2023. This contrasted with defense allegations of a relationship that began years earlier before she hired Wade, and the county paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees, and the two took international trips together.
Willis and Wade said they split travel expenses, with her repaying him in cash. Defense lawyers questioned the lack of documentation for the reimbursement.
Defense lawyers have completed their questioning of Willis, but prosecutors will take their turn Friday morning.
– Bart Jansen
No decision about whether to remove Willis expected Friday
McAfee told defense lawyers he didn’t expect to get to final arguments about the evidence on Friday because of the length of expected testimony.
He said he would play it by ear about when the issue would be resolved.
– Bart Jansen
Defense lawyers have at least 2 more witnesses, dispute about 3rd
Ashleigh Merchant, a lawyer representing co-defendant Mike Roman ? who has been leading the push to remove Willis ? said she expects to call two witnesses Friday.
Another defense lawyer, Craig Gillen, who represents another co-defendant, Georgia Republican Party Chairman David Shafer, said he would like to call a witness. But prosecutors have objected.
McAfee said the two sides would debate the matter Friday.
– Bart Jansen
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fani Willis hearing concludes in Trump election fraud case
