by Natalia Mittelstadt
The second day of the hearing regarding Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade began on Friday with the remaining witnesses expected to testify, as Willis was not brought back to the witness stand.
The hearing started on Thursday, with Willis testifying as a defense witness that she didn’t know she was required to disclose her romantic relationship with Wade to the county. Willis was originally supposed to be cross-examined by her prosecution team on Friday, but the prosecution chose to not bring her back to testify.
Terrance Bradley, Wade’s divorce lawyer and former law partner, is expected to be called as the defense’s next witness.
Willis last year indicted former President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants over his efforts to challenge the 2020 election results in Georgia. She had hired Wade as a special prosecutor to pursue the case. Co-defendant Mike Roman and his attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, first raised the allegations in January, claiming the pair “engaged in an improper, clandestine personal relationship” and have profited from the case. Wade has been paid roughly $654,000 in legal fees from January 2022 through December 2023, he claimed.
Willis and Wade have admitted to a “personal relationship,” though they claim it began after she hired him and that there exists no conflict of interest in the case. Contrarily, defense attorneys for Roman insist the relationship preceded Wade’s hiring.
Merchant and other lawyers for the co-defendants questioned Willis on Thursday, where she accused Merchant of lying about her relationship with Wade.
Watch Thursday’s hearing:
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Natalia Mittelstadt is a reporter at Just the News.
