Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testifies in the secret affair case that accuses her of having a relationship with a special prosecutor handling Donald Trump's criminal case.
Willis took the stand on Thursday after a former friend disputed the timeline of the district attorney's relationship with Nathan Wade. The friend had described "hugging, kissing, just affection" happening as early as November 2021 between Willis and Wade.
The latter is the lead prosecutor in the Georgia election interference case against former United States President Trump. The remarks appeared to contradict claims that the two made in an earlier affidavit.
The friend, identified as Robin Yeartie, first met Willis in college and worked in the district attorney's office until 2022. She testified as the two defendants faced misconduct allegations that could lead to Willis being disqualified from the case against the former president.
In the district attorney's testimony, she sought to distance herself from Yeartie by saying that they had known each other for decades, but noting that "she betrayed our friendship." Willis also acknowledged this month that she had a personal relationship with Wade, but argued that it was not improper, as per NBC News.
Nearly an hour into Willis' testimony, she grew frustrated when she was faced with the claim that her office had objected to turning over records. This suggests that the probe of her and Wade was a sideshow from the case at hand.
In her statement, Willis said, "You're confused. You think I'm on trial. These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020." The district attorney added that she is not on trial, no matter how hard others try to put her on trial.
The district attorney drew a caution from the judge who was overseeing the case, who warned that if she continued to interrupt questions, he would "have no choice but to strike" her testimony. On the other hand, Wade, in his sworn statement, said he had "no personal relationship" with Willis before the Trump case.
Secret Affair With the Special Prosecutor
There was also talk of cash exchanging hands from Willis to Wade, where they store their money at home, CashApp usage, and their spending habits. These were all to get to the question of whether or not Willis benefited financially from putting Wade on her staff, according to CNN.
The district attorney repeatedly claimed that the defense attorney's peddled lies. The hearing will continue on Friday with Willis still on the stand and the judge said that he does not plan to issue a ruling on that same day.
If the defense can establish that Willis and Wade started a romance before the latter was hired, it would help the argument that they should be disqualified from the Trump case. Wade was supposedly paid more than $650,000 since being hired by Willis.
Defense lawyers argued that he charged thousands of dollars to his credit cards for vacations with the district attorney. However, the latter said that she reimbursed him in the case for the trips that they took, said the New York Times.
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