The Fulton County prosecutors felt they got enough from Fani Willis’ testimony on Thursday to beat back the disqualification attempts, making further testimony on Friday unnecessary, two sources familiar with their thinking told CNN.
Willis spent more than two hours on the witness stand Thursday, and she was expected to resume testifying Friday. But prosecutors unexpectedly announced at the start of the hearing that they didn’t have any questions for Willis’ cross-examination.
“The state has no further questions for Ms. Willis,” prosecutor Anna Cross said.
What this means: The decision could be strategically helpful to the prosecutors. By declining to question Willis, the prosecutors are now depriving the defense attorneys of another opportunity to take a second crack at her and ask additional questions.
It also means the spectacle of Willis on the stand won’t be prolonged into a second day. The combative tussling with defense attorneys, and repeated rebukes from the judge, created an all-day frenzy that diverted the case far away from the election subversion allegations against former President Donald Trump and more than a dozen of his GOP allies.
The burden is on the defense attorneys to demonstrate that there is an improper financial relationship between Willis and her top prosecutor, Nathan Wade, who was her former romantic partner. It’s a relatively high bar under Georgia law to disqualify the prosecution team over conflict-of-interest questions, and the decision will be ultimately up to the judge.
