A Fulton County Superior Court judge is hearing closing arguments Friday before deciding whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified from leading the prosecution in Georgia’s case against former President Donald Trump.
Willis’s attorneys confirmed in court filings in early February that she had a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the prosecutor she hired for the state’s election interference case against Trump. Both Wade and Willis said during the hearing that their romantic relationship began after she hired him and ended a year ago.
Here are the most shocking moments of the hearing:
Text exchanges raise questions into the timeline
While Wade and Willis have been adamant in claiming their relationship started after he was hired, in court on Tuesday, Ashleigh Merchant, an attorney for Trump’s co-defendant, showed messages Terrence Bradley sent her, saying the relationship started before Wade joined Willis’s team in November 2021.
Trump’s team expected Bradley, a former divorce lawyer and law partner of Wade, to testify that Wade and Willis were romantically involved before she hired him as a special prosecutor. However, Bradley said he could not recall when he first heard about the relationship, telling the court he had speculated about their relationship — though the text messages showed him being more definitive.
“Do you think it happened before she hired him?” Merchant asked Bradley in one text. “Absolutely,” Bradley replied.
In an exchange from early January, Bradley told Merchant that Wade and Willis took trips to Florida, Texas, and California together.
“Doesn’t surprise me…they took many trips to Florida,” Bradley said, adding Texas.
“Dang,” Merchant wrote back. “They had a full on relationship. Just insane.”
Witness denies being told Willis and Wade had sex in her office
In one of the more salacious exchanges during the hearing, Bradley was asked about a claim that Willis and Wade brought their relationship into the office where they were working on prosecuting Trump.
“Mr. Wade told you they had sex in that office, though, correct?” Merchant asked Bradley.
“I don’t recall him saying that, no,” Bradley said.
Willis accuses Trump lawyer of lying
Two weeks ago, Willis took the stand during an intense hearing about her romantic relationship with Wade. In a heated moment, Merchant asked the district attorney if she had any proof that she reimbursed Wade in cash for trips.
Willis was accused of financially benefiting from the relationship when Wade used his income from work to pay for trips. But Willis, who testified she always pays in cash when she travels, claimed she reimbursed Wade for vacations to Aruba, the Bahamas, Belize, and Napa Valley, California.
Wade said Willis “paid for the excursions so the expenses sort of balanced out,” and, for at least one vacation, she paid him back for flights and other expenses.
Merchant pressed Willis over her reimbursement claim, asking her for additional proof, but Willis argued “the testimony of one witness is enough to prove a fact.”
“Has Nathan Wade ever visited you at the place you laid your head?” Merchant asked.
“When?” Willis responded.
“Has he ever visited you at the place you lay your head,” the lawyer asked again.
“So let’s be clear because you lied,” Willis said while reaching for various piles of paper.
“Right here, you lied right here,” Willis said before Merchant interrupted to say no.
“It is a lie,” Willis said. “It is a lie,” she repeated while holding various papers.
On two different occasions, Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee issued warnings to Willis that he would have to strike her testimony if she continued to interrupt the defense while questioning her.
Willis says she is ‘not on trial’ during investigation into her conduct
Willis tried to defend herself from further intrusions into her personal life during the hearing being held to conduct an investigation into whether her private actions might have an effect on her public role.
“You’ve been intrusive into people’s personal lives,” Willis said. “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.”
Willis called Merchant’s court filings about the timeline of her romance “highly offensive” after Merchant suggested Willis and Wade slept together in 2019 after the two met at a judicial conference.
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“I find it offensive that you’ve implied I slept with Mr. Wade at a conference the first day I met with him,” Willis said. “It’s highly offensive.”
Trump has called for his criminal case to end after Willis’s misconduct allegations, and the hearing created uncertainty about if the case will move forward and how quickly.