Fulton County prosecutors will not call District Attorney Fani Willis to the witness stand for additional questioning Friday, after she forcefully defended herself and accused defense attorneys of lying as part of a bid to disqualify her and her office from prosecuting the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump.
Willis testified for roughly two hours Thursday in the evidentiary hearing held before Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee, during which she fiercely pushed back on claims from lawyers representing Trump and several of his co-defendants that she engaged in an improper relationship with Wade, whom she hired to work on the case, and financially benefited from it.
A lawyer for Michael Roman, a former Trump campaign official, first raised the allegations about Willis and Wade last month and is seeking to have prosecutors involved in the case disqualified and the indictment dismissed. Trump and his allies are accused of orchestrating a scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. They have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Both Wade and Willis testified Thursday, providing details about the origins of their relationship, trips they took together, their finances and other aspects of their relationship. They confirmed in a court filing earlier this month that they began a romantic relationship in early 2022, months after Willis appointed Wade special prosecutor to work on the sprawling racketeering case involving Trump.
“You’ve been intrusive into people’s personal lives,” Willis told Ashleigh Merchant, who is representing Roman. “You’re confused. You think I’m on trial. These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. I’m not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial. I object to you getting any personal records of mine.”
She called implications made by Merchant in court filings about the start of her relationship with Wade “highly offensive” and said her interests were “contrary to democracy.”
Prosecutors in her office still plan to call at least three witnesses to answer questions Friday, including her father.
Proceedings kicked off Friday morning with testimony from former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, a Democrat. Barnes was Willis’ first choice to serve as special prosecutor, and he said he often consults to help on major cases.
“I had mouths to feed at a law office and that I could not, I would not do that,” Barnes said of his conversation with Willis about assisting with the case, adding “I told D.A. Willis I lived with bodyguards for four years, and I didn’t like it, and I wasn’t going to live with bodyguards for the rest of my life.”
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens briefly attended the proceedings, watching Barnes’ testimony.
Terrence Bradley, Wade’s former law partner and divorce attorney, was expected to testify, but he is at a doctor’s appointment. McAfee warned that Bradley, who appeared Thursday, may be in violation of a subpoena.
