'Clear-cut lies': Fiery hearing over Fani Willis affair in Trump election case
Defense lawyers and prosecutors clashed over basic questions of ethics and evidence Friday during final arguments in a hearing over whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified from Donald Trump's Georgia election fraud case for having an affair with the private lawyer she hired as special prosecutor in the sprawling indictment.
After nearly two hours in which defense attorneys accused Willis of abusing her power, lying on disclosure forms, and concealing a blatant conflict of interest, the district attorney's office fought back, claiming that defense witnesses were unreliable and that there were no legal grounds to remove the prosecutor.
“It’s ridiculous, it’s absurd and it’s desperate,” prosecutor Adam Abbate said Friday. “It’s a desperate attempt to remove a prosecutor from a case for absolutely no reason, your honor, other than harassment and embarrassment.”
Willis took a seat in the courtroom during the prosecution's presentation. Wade was also present.
More:Allegations of liars, cheaters and conflicts of interest: Takeaways from the Fani Willis hearing
Lawyers for the former president and other defendants have argued in often-salacious filings and at bombshell televised hearings that Willis’ romance with prosecutor Nathan Wade created a conflict of interest, and that she improperly benefited from their relationship when he paid for vacations they took together using some of the more than $650,000 he has made from the case.
Willis and Wade have strenuously denied that she improperly benefitted, and say their relationship began months after she hired him to oversee the investigation into whether Trump and associates broke the law in conspiring to overturn Joe Biden's narrow 2020 victory in the state.
Willis called the allegations "lies" in surprise testimony last month.
"You think I’m on trial," Willis said from the witness stand on Feb. 15. "These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020,” she added, gesturing to the defense table. “I’m not on trial no matter how hard you try to put me on trial.”
More:'Lies': Fani Willis fights push to remove her from Donald Trump Georgia case
Attorneys for Trump campaign official Mike Roman, the former president, and others charged in the case have worked to introduce evidence that they say demonstrates that Willis and Wade − contrary to their sworn statements − were in a relationship before she hired him to oversee the election prosecution.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said he will rule in the next two few weeks over whether to disqualify Willis, Wade and potentially the rest of the DA's office. Defense lawyers for Trump and some of the 14 other remaining defendants also have petitioned McAfee to dismiss the case entirely on the grounds that it is irrevocably tainted by Willis' alleged conflict of interest.
More:Trump lawyer wields cellphone data in bid to discredit Georgia DA Fani Willis in election fraud case
Judge plans to rule within 2 weeks on possible DA removal
Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee said he plans to rule within two weeks on whether to disqualify District Attorney Fani Willis from the election racketeering case against Donald Trump.
McAfee closed the hearing Friday saying he was grappling with several legal issues and factual disputes.
“There are several legal issues to sort through, several factual determinations that I have to make and those aren’t ones I can make at this moment,” McAfee said after three hours of forceful submissions by both sides. “I will be taking the time to make sure that I give this case the full consideration it’s due. I hope to have an answer for everyone within the next two weeks.”
--Bart Jansen
Prosecutor calls defense allegation that Fani Willis lived lavishly ‘a joke’
Prosecutor Adam Abbate ridiculed defense arguments that Fulton County DA Fani Willis hired special prosecutor Nathan Wade to benefit financially from their relationship.
Abbate noted that Willis didn’t hire Wade to work on other racketeering cases she was prosecuting. She secured indictments against 19 defendants in the Donald Trump election racketeering case, rather than 39 a special grand jury had recommended. And she sought the fastest possible trial, as early as October 2023 for two of the defendants who pleaded guilty, rather than drag out Wade’s billing on the case.
Abbate also rubbished the defense accusation that Willis traveled lavishly with Wade. During a trip to Napa Valley in California, Willis stayed at the Double Tree hotel rather than the Ritz Carlton or the Four Seasons, Abbate said.
“I don’t know that to be a lavish hotel,” Abbate said of the Double Tree. “The allegations and assertions that Ms. Willis was living the ‘Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous’ is a joke,” he added, in response to a previous defense statement.
--Bart Jansen
More:QAnon ties, bogus litigation: Book details Trump and the effort to overturn Georgia election
Prosecutor: Defense attempt to remove Willis ‘ridiculous’ and ‘absurd'
Prosecutor Adam Abbate argued the defense attempt to remove Fulton County DA Fani Willis from the election racketeering case against Donald Trump and 14 remaining co-defendants was "desperate."
Abbate quoted witnesses confirming Willis’s account of her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, which they said began during the investigation and has ended.
Willis’ father, John Floyd, testified last month that he lived with the district attorney in 2019 and 2020 and never saw Wade at her house – during a time the defense contends they were romantically involved. Floyd also testified that he had taught his daughter to keep substantial amounts of cash at home; Willis had said she repaid Wade for travel in cash.
“They were trying to make Ms. Willis a liar,” Abbate said.
Willis has testified Wade wasn’t her first choice to become special prosecutor on the Trump case. Former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes testified in February that Willis recruited him to become special prosecutor in the Trump case before she offered the job to Wade, but he decided not to join her team.
“It’s ridiculous, it’s absurd and it’s desperate,” Abbate said. “It’s a desperate attempt to remove a prosecutor from a case for absolutely no reason, your honor, other than harassment and embarrassment.”
--Bart Jansen
More:Fani Willis hearing: a salacious drama that could undermine Trump election interference case
Prosecutor argues 'star witness' didn't back defense claims
Prosecutor Adam Abbate argued that Nathan Wade's former divorce lawyer, Terrence Bradley, failed to support defense claims that he could contradict Willis and Wade's testimony based on personal experience. Abbate said Bradley, who was previously described by the judge as a "star witness," testified 15 times that he didn't have personal, firsthand knowledge about Willis and Wade's romantic relationship.
Abbate also suggested the defense oversold Bradley's potential testimony only to be let down when he took the stand. Abbate pointed to a text message by a defense lawyer asking Bradley whether he thought Willis and Wade's relationship started before she hired him, to which Bradley responded, "Absolutely."
"The question in itself involves speculation," Abbate said. "He doesn't provide any context as to how he knows, and in these text messages and through his testimony with the court, the source of his information was unclear," Abbate said.
Abbate did note one conversation Bradley testified to involving himself and Wade, but argued the conversation never happened. If it had, the defense would have confronted Wade about it when he testified, Abbate argued.
--Aysha Bagchi
Prosecutor argues defense lawyers proved no conflicts to disqualify Willis
Prosecutor Adam Abbate argued that defense lawyers needed to show DA Fani Willis had an actual conflict of interest to remove her from the Donald Trump case, but that the evidence showed she got no financial benefit from her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade because she had repaid him in cash for vacations they took together.
“We have none of that here,” Abbate said. “We have absolutely no evidence here that Ms. Willis received any financial gain or benefit.”
Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee cited a court decision involving the disqualification of a lawyer that mentioned a proverb involving ancient Roman emperor Julius Caesar. The proverb stated that Caesar’s wife needed to be not just lawful, but beyond reproach.
McAfee asked whether that means prosecutors must be beyond reproach, rather than just avoiding conflicts of interest.
Abbate insisted that an actual conflict, such as getting a fee based on the result of a case, must be proven to remove a prosecutor.
“An actual conflict is required to be shown,” Abbate said.
--Bart Jansen
Prosecutor calls witness testimony about Willis, Wade relationship ‘absurd’
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis entered the courtroom during the break after closing arguments from defense lawyers who are trying to remove her from the case against former President Donald Trump and 14 remaining co-defendants.
She took a seat at the prosecution table while a deputy, Adam Abbate, began his argument. Abbate urged Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee to carefully gauge testimony from Robin Yeartie, a longtime friend and former work colleague of Willis, who said the relationship between Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade began in 2019, well before he was hired to lead the Trump prosecution.
“I’m asking you to infer that her testimony was at best inconsistent,” Abbate said.
Willis and Wade testified their relationship ran from spring 2022 to summer 2023. Abbate argued that defense lawyers asked Yeartie leading questions suggesting that Willis confirmed the relationship began in 2019 and continued in 2020 and 2021.
“It’s absurd,” Abbate said. “It’s absolutely absurd.”
--Bart Jansen
Atlanta DA's office 'is a global laughing stock' over Fani Willis' relationship, lawyer for former Trump official says
Harry MacDougald, who represents Trump co-defendant and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, noted that prosecutors made several objections to the testimony of Terrence Bradley, who was Nathan Wade's divorce attorney, based on the argument that the testimony was protected by attorney-client privilege.
MacDougald noted the privilege at issue belongs to Wade as Bradley's former client, rather than to the state prosecuting team. That shows, he argued, that the district attorney's office is serving Willis and Wade's personal interests, rather than justice.
"It's a continuation of the wrongful pattern of concealment and cover-up that they've engaged in since the beginning, but now they've enlisted the entire office in the enterprise," MacDougald said. "This office is a global laughing stock because of their conduct."
Defense lawyers are trying to have Willis, Wade, and the entire district attorney's office thrown off the case, and have asked that the case be thrown out.
--Aysha Bagchi
Willis 'abused her power...to gain advantage for herself and her boyfriend,' defense lawyer says
Harry MacDougald, a lawyer for co-defendant Jeffrey Clark, a former assistant U.S. attorney general in the Trump administration, accused District Attorney Fani Willis of violating her professional ethics as a lawyer in at least six different ways.
In one example, MacDougald said Willis didn’t declare the gifts she got from special prosecutor Nathan Wade, which she contends she repaid in cash.
“There’s no boyfriend exception,” MacDougald said. “That’s an actual conflict of interest between her legal duty of disclosure, her legal duty of candor as a prosecutor and her private and personal interests in concealing the relationship, concealing the gifts and keeping gravy train rolling for as long as possible.”
In another example, MacDougal also criticized Willis for threatening Wade’s wife with criminal charges by arguing that allegations in their divorce case were hampering the investigation of Trump.
“There’s no sugar-coating it,” MacDougald said. “She abused her power. She abused her position, to threaten her boyfriend’s wife with criminal prosecution to gain advantage for herself and her boyfriend.”
--Bart Jansen
Willis and Wade enjoyed ‘Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous’: defense lawyer
Richard Rice, a lawyer for Trump co-defendant Robert Cheeley, accused Fulton County DA Fani Willis of personally benefitting from the investigation into Trump through her romance with Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Wade, who Willis hired for the case, paid at least $17,095 toward the relationship, Rice said, citing documents and referring to vacations the two took together. The figure doesn’t include dinners and day trips, Rice said.
“During the pendency of this investigation and this case, Mr. Wade and Ms. Willis basically lived Robin Leach’s ‘Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous,’” Rice said. “They did this riding on the backs of defendants in this case, funded by the taxpayers of Fulton County and the state of Georgia.”
Wade and Willis acknowledged traveling to Belize, Aruba and California, but said she repaid him in cash.
Rice also cited 2,000 calls and nearly 9,800 texts between Wade and Willis during the first 11 months of 2021 – before he was contracted as a special prosecutor.
“I don’t even think love-struck teenagers communicate that much,” Rice said.
--Bart Jansen
Willis played ‘race card and the God card’: defense lawyer
Craig Gillen, a lawyer for Trump co-defendant David Shafer, blasted Fulton County DA Fani Willis for giving a prominent speech at a historic church in response to allegations about her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade before responding formally in court.
Willis gave a speech Jan. 14 at Big Bethel AME Church suggesting that defense lawyers were attacking Wade because his is Black rather than two other special prosecutors who are white. Instead, Gillen said Willis should have acknowledged the relationship to the congregation.
More:Georgia DA Fani Willis breaks silence over Donald Trump case prosecutor in church address
Gillen said prosecutors aren’t supposed to try and win cases through meeting halls or the newspaper but through the court.
“She chose to deflect, and to do two things that are reprehensible for any lawyer, but particularly for a prosecutor,” Gillen said. “She chose to pull out the race card and the God card.”
--Bart Jansen
Defense lawyer: 'Prosecutors are held to a higher standard'
Trump lawyer Steven Sadow argued that cell phone records indicated that Willis and Wade gave untruthful testimony about when their romantic relationship started. He said the records suggest there were 35 or more occasions when Wade was in the vicinity of where Willis was staying prior to when the two prosecutors testified the relationship started.
The records reflect two occasions when Wade appeared to spend the night at the apartment, Sadow added. He noted the prosecuting team may not accept that Wade stayed the night.
Sadow argued that if the judge concludes there were ethical violations, and that there is a significant concern about the truthfulness of Willis and Wade's testimony, they should be disqualified.
"Prosecutors are held to a higher standard," Sadow said. "They're the ones that are supposed to be seeking justice."
--Aysha Bagchi
Trump lawyer on ethics: 'What’s good for the goose is good for the gander'
Steven Sadow, a Trump lawyer, said Robin Yeartie, a friend of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, and Terrence Bradley, Nathan Wade’s former divorce lawyer, had each said the romantic relationship between Willis and Wade began before he was hired to lead the Trump prosecution in November 2021.
Sadow said that meant Willis and Wade both lied under oath. “I suggest they were clear-cut lies,” Sadow said.
Willis and Wade have said Yeartie and Bradley are wrong.
More:Why Nathan Wade, under fire for alleged affair with Fani Willis, is facing new scrutiny
Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee asked Sadow what remedy could be imposed. “Where in the law do we find the remedy for an untruthful statement?” McAfee asked.
Sadow cited two cases where judges found ethical violations by defense lawyers and disqualified them from those case.
“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” Sadow said. “If defense counsel can be kicked off of a case because of ethical violations, I suggest the same thing can happen for prosecutors when the ethical violations deal with truthfulness, candor to the court.”
--Bart Jansen
$9,247: 'The amount of money they cannot account for in their testimony'
John Merchant, a lawyer for Trump co-defendant Mike Roman, said in doing the math on what Wade actually paid for and what Wade and Willis testified she paid back in cash for their vacations, $9,247 "is the amount of money they cannot account for in their testimony." That was a personal benefit Willis received through prosecuting the case with Wade on the prosecuting team, he argued.
Judge McAfee asked Merchant whether a personal benefit needed to be significant to justify disqualifying a prosecutor. Merchant replied that a $6 benefit would be enough, though he later conceded giving a fellow prosecutor a pack of gum might not fit the bill.
In this case, however, there's an appearance of a conflict, and that is enough, Merchant insisted.
"They did this, they knew it was wrong, they hid it, and even when they were called out on it, they created an excuse for it by saying it happened after the fact," he said, referencing Willis and Wade's claim that their romantic relationship started after Wade was hired to work on the case.
--Aysha Bagchi
Willis ‘reaped the benefits’ of relationship: defense lawyer
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade acknowledged having a romantic relationship from spring 2022 to summer 2023 while working on the Georgia election case. But defense lawyers have argued the relationship began in 2019 – before Willis hired Wade to work on the case.
“How does the timing of the relationship impact the financial interest?” Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee asked.
John Merchant, a lawyer for co-defendant Mike Roman, said the timing demonstrates that trips they took together provided her personal benefits from Wade's work on the case. Willis has testified she reimbursed Wade in cash for the vacations, without receipts or documentation.
“Because it’s part of the scheme she created intentionally in order to give benefits to her boyfriend,” Merchant said. “She put her boyfriend in the spot, paid him and then reaped the benefits of it.”
--Bart Jansen
Defense lawyer says DA Fani Willis must be disqualified to protect ‘the entire public confidence in the system’
Defense attorneys are going first in the closing arguments in the Fani Willis disqualification hearings, with lawyers for some of the 14 co-defendants, including former President Donald Trump, alloted 90 minutes, followed by Willis' office.
Defense lawyer John Merchant, appearing for former Trump 2020 campaign official Michael Roman, said Willis had clearly violated state conflict of interest laws and should be disqualified over her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. He also said that the standard of proof, based on Georgia law, should be whether Willis created the “appearance of conflict of interest” instead of the higher standard of proving it.
"And the reason why the appearance of a conflict is so prescient here is because if this court allows this kind of behavior to go on ... the entire public confidence in the system will be shot,” Merchant told Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee. “And the integrity of the system will be undermined."
The appearance standard dates back to some cases from the 1990s and is so important, Merchant said, because “you have to pay attention to what this looks like to the public.”
--Josh Meyer
‘Outright lies’: Lawyer decries rumors that DA Fani Willis and special prosecutor had sex in law office
Andrew Evans, a lawyer for special prosecutor Nathan Wade, on Friday denied claims by defense attorneys in the Donald Trump election fraud case that he or his wife walked in on Wade and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis having sex in their office.
In a statement to USA TODAY, Evans denied the accusations and said they were part of a mud-slinging campaign by defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant and other defense lawyers to disqualify Willis and derail the election fraud investigation. The rumors were mentioned in text messages that Merchant exchanged with Terrence Bradley, Wade's former law partner and divorce lawyer.
“I can’t speak to the other texts, but the ones about Stacey or I walking in on them are false. Those texts are not even gossip—they are just outright lies,” Evans said.
The accusations were made in the last evidentiary hearing in the case, as part of an effort to show that Willis and Wade were engaged in a romantic relationship before she hired him to oversee the racketeering investigation into Trump and dozens of others for allegedly trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election that Trump lost in Georgia.
At the time in question, Evans and his wife Stacey, also a lawyer and now Georgia state representative, had rented office space to Willis.
The issue first came up as part of hundreds of text messages between defense lawyer Merchant and Bradley. In those texts, Merchant asked Bradley if he'd heard a rumor about Andrew Evans walking in on Wade and Willis.
Merchant also asked Bradley about it during an evidentiary hearing two weeks ago in which Bradley was forced to testify. Bradley said he remembered virtually nothing about when Willis and Wade began their relationship, or about when Wade might had visited Willis at her office.
The texts are expected to be one of many issues discussed at today’s hearing.
--Josh Meyer
