A case accusing former President Donald J. Trump and his allies of trying to undermine the 2020 election results in Georgia led to a dive into the details of prosecutors’ love and financial lives on Thursday – their sleeping arrangements, vacation days and personal bank accounts – in an unusual and highly contentious hearing.
Lawyers for Mr. Trump and his co-defendants have argued that Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis and the special prosecutor she appointed to manage the case, Nathan J. Wade, are out of court because of their romantic and romantic relationship Case should be excluded Financial entanglements would have led to a conflict of interest. Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade strongly denied those allegations in their testimony on Thursday, with Ms. Willis accusing defense attorneys of spreading “lies.”
“You think I’m on trial,” Ms. Willis told Ashleigh Merchant, a lawyer for Michael Roman, a former Trump campaign official who is a co-defendant in the case. “These people are on trial for trying to steal a 2020 election. I will not stand trial no matter how hard you try to put me on trial.”
The hearing in Fulton County Superior Court was a remarkable turn of events, as prosecutors who had accused Mr. Trump of trying to invalidate election results were grilled by defense attorneys about the trips they took together, their separation and the cost of their meals and hotels .
Ms. Willis took the stand after her former boyfriend, Robin Bryant-Yeartie, testified that Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade began a romantic relationship in 2019 before Ms. Willis hired him in November 2021. Ms. Bryant-Yeartie said this was still ongoing when she and Ms. Willis last spoke in 2022, shortly before they fell out.
The timeline outlined by Ms. Bryant-Yeartie could be crucial to the defense’s efforts to derail the case against Mr. Trump and his co-defendants. If the defense can prove that Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade began a romance before he was hired, it would help the argument that they should be excluded from the trial because of a conflict of interest.
The defense argues that Ms. Willis hired Mr. Wade because they would both benefit financially. Mr. Wade has been paid more than $650,000 since he was hired, and defense attorneys say he charged thousands of dollars to his credit cards for vacations with Ms. Willis. She says she reimbursed him for the travel expenses in cash.
Ms Bryant-Yeartie said she had “no doubt” about the timing of the romantic relationship and had seen “hugs, kisses” and “simple affection” between Ms Willis and Mr Wade as early as 2019.
But Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade both testified that their romance began in early 2022, after Ms. Willis hired him as a special prosecutor, and long after they first met, at a judicial conference in 2019. Both said that their relationship ended in the summer of 2023, around the same time that Mr. Trump and his co-defendants were indicted.
Earlier in her testimony, Ms. Willis said she found it “extremely offensive” that Ms. Merchant had insinuated in court papers that she had slept with Mr. Wade after their 2019 meeting, calling it one of several inaccuracies in the defense’s disqualifying motion she. “It’s highly offensive when someone lies to you,” she said.
Ms Willis said she responded with “choice of words” after reading the defense brief. “Mr. Wade is a southern gentleman – I’m not so much,” said Ms. Willis.
She sometimes had violent outbursts of anger when confronted with aggressive questions about her personal life. When Ms. Merchant suggested that Ms. Willis had lived with Mr. Wade for a time, Ms. Willis shouted “That’s a lie,” prompting Judge Scott McAfee to order a brief recess in the proceedings.
But she also peppered her statement with folksy observations about relationships. Explaining the timing of her breakup with Mr. Wade, she said that men think a relationship ends when sexual relations end, but women do not assume a relationship is over until the last “hard conversation.”
She also said that she and Mr. Wade often argued about her desire to support herself. It’s wise, she said, for women to keep large sums of cash at home for emergencies, adding that she always has $200 with her on a date in case things go wrong.
“I don’t need anything from a man,” Ms. Willis said. “A man is not a plan – a man is a companion.”
The hearing continues on Friday with further testimony. Judge McAfee, who is overseeing the Trump case, is holding the hearing to determine whether there is evidence of a conflict of interest. He said even the “appearance” of a conflict could result in disqualification. Mr. Trump and other defendants are also demanding that the cases against them be dropped, although that appears unlikely.
In another Trump case on Thursday, a New York judge rejected Mr. Trump’s attempt to dismiss criminal charges against him in Manhattan over a hush-money payment to an adult film star. That judge set the trial date for March 25.
Mr. Trump’s allies have sought to exploit questions surrounding prosecutors’ conduct in Georgia. On Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee, led by one of Mr. Trump’s staunchest allies, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, took up a defense claim that prosecutors spent money at a tattoo parlor in Belize.
“What tattoo did Nathan Wade get with Fani Willis during their vacation in Belize?” The committee wrote on the X platform. “Were your tax dollars used?”
If Mr. Wade and Ms. Willis are disqualified, it could upend or at least delay the case. This is one of four cases Mr. Trump is facing as he tries to secure the Republican presidential nomination, making the allegations against him a central issue in his campaign.
If disqualified, another prosecutor in Georgia would have to be assigned to handle the sprawling and politically charged case. That prosecutor could continue the case, make changes—such as adding or deleting charges or defendants—or even drop the case entirely.
The allegations of an improper relationship between prosecutors have no direct bearing on the merits of the case against Mr. Trump and 18 other defendants who were charged in August with racketeering and other crimes related to a conspiracy to suppress the presidential election results in Georgia and other swings States. Four of the defendants have already pleaded guilty.
To bolster their argument that Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade had a financial interest in the prosecution, lawyers for Mr. Trump and other defendants point to the $650,000 he received and the expensive trips they took have. Defense lawyers argue that the money paid to Mr. Wade was an incentive for Ms. Willis to drag out the case.
Ms. Willis, who admitted to a romantic relationship with Mr. Wade in a filing last week, said the cost of her personal trip was split “approximately evenly” between her and Mr. Wade so there was no conflict.
Mr Wade said Ms Willis usually reimbursed him for travel expenses in cash, so there were no receipts. He called Ms. Willis an “independent, strong woman” who insisted she would “pay her own way.” On a trip to California, he said, “Everything we did when we got to Napa, she paid for it.”
Craig Gillen, a lawyer for David Shafer, the former chairman of the Georgia Republican Party who is among the defendants in the case, repeatedly pressed Mr. Wade on his claim that Ms. Willis reimbursed him for travel expenses in cash. He asked Mr Wade if he had any records of cash deposits into his bank account. Mr. Wade said he did not do it.
Ms. Merchant reviewed Mr. Wade’s credit card records and questioned him about spending on trips to Belize, Aruba, Napa Valley in California and Tennessee.
For her part, Ms. Willis said she repaid Mr. Wade’s tickets and other travel expenses from cash she kept at her home. It was her habit, she said, to have enough cash on hand to cover six months’ worth of expenses, a rule her father taught her. She added that she never gave Mr. Wade more than $2,500 at a time to reimburse him for the cost of their trips together.
“I don’t need anyone to pay my bills,” Ms. Willis said. “The only man who can ever fully pay my bills is my father.”
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2024-02-16 02:34:27
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