Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis went on international trips, dinner dates and exotic excursions with the “lover” who was a member of her prosecution team but repaid him with cash payments, special prosecutor Nathan Wade said in explosive court testimony.
“It was cash — she didn’t give me any checks,” Wade said after being questioned on the witness stand during an evidentiary hearing after lawyers in Donald Trump’s election rigging case tried to disqualify the couple from the case.
Wade faced a barrage of questions about both the timing and nature of his “romantic” relationship with Willis, and how he justified the costs while his company earned more than $600,000 from the county.
“I never bought a gift for Ms. Willis,” Wade said under repeated questioning by defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant.
He said the couple’s accounting was partly due to Willis’ concerns about a prominent figure during the prosecution of Trump and 18 alleged co-conspirators.
“It was cash — she didn’t give me any checks,” Fulton County Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade said as he testified about his relationship with District Attorney Fani Willis.
“For security reasons, she would limit her transactions,” he said. “I used my business card for everything,” he said of his transactions.
He also tried to suppress any notion that Willis was a financial free rider in the relationship, which he said didn’t begin until 2022 after he contracted to do work for her office.
“You understand she’s a very independent, proud woman, so she’ll insist on carrying her own weight. It was actually a bone of contention between the two of us. She’s going to pay her own expenses,” Wade said.
“In a relationship, ma’am, especially men, we don’t ask for anything in return, so you don’t keep a ledger of the things you pay for versus the things she paid for,” he said when Merchant asked him about it. about how the pair accounted for dinner, Uber rides and cruise expenses.
Wade’s finances, which uncovered divorce proceedings, are key to whether he and Willis’ team can remain in the Trump business, following a filing alleging they had an “improper” benefit and that Willis had gained financially by placing him on her team.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee allowed a series of questions about the timing of the relationship, and whether it was in fact an item before Willis hired him.
Merchant asked why he submitted only one receipt showing a non-cash refund from Willis.
He was questioned during trips to Aruba and Napa Valley, California. He also talked about a trip to Tennessee, although he denied renting a cabin from her.
“She couldn’t get any peace of mind at the scene, so we got in my car and drove,” he said.
Willis began her romantic relationship with Wade in late 2019, three years earlier than they claimed in a lawsuit, her college friend said in impressive court testimony Friday.
It would mean the relationship began before Wade was hired in the Georgia election interference case that Willis is pursuing against Donald Trump — and could be grounds for a judge to disqualify them from the case.
Robin Yeartie’s testimony directly contradicts Willis and Wade’s information that the relationship did not begin until after Wade was hired in November 2021.
Yeartie told the court there was “no doubt” Willis and Wade were in a romantic relationship before they were hired, confirming she was “certain” of it.
Wade said in his own blockbuster testimony that the relationship began in 2022 and he was forced to answer a series of questions about statements made in his divorce filing and about his travels with Willis.
The prosecution of Donald Trump and alleged accomplices in Fulton County took on elements of a dramatic soap opera Thursday, as Willis’ former boyfriend testified at a hearing about the district attorney’s “romantic” relationship with a special prosecutor on her team.
Robin Latrice Yeartie testified that the Fulton County district attorney told her about the meeting with Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade during a 2019 judicial conference, during a hearing to determine whether Willis is disqualified from the case of Donald Trump and co-defendants
Yeartie testified that the prosecutor leading Trump’s prosecution personally informed her of her romantic relationship with Wade.
The two had been friends since college in the 1990s — though their bond was severed and Yeartie is now testifying on behalf of an alleged Trump accomplice who wants to disqualify Willis and Wade from the case.
The relationship itself is something Wade has already acknowledged and Willis has filed a lawsuit, which came after attorney Ashleigh Merchant first made allegations about it in a bombshell filing aimed at disqualifying Willis and Wade from the case.
But the timing could be problematic for Willis because it speaks to a relationship that Yeartie says existed before Wade joined Willis on her staff.
She testified that Willis told her about meeting Wade at a 2019 judicial conference.
‘Mrs. Willis and Mr. Wade began their romantic relationship shortly afterward,” she said, when questioned by Merchant.
“If I ask you personally, do you mean that romantically?” merchant asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
‘Romantic’: Lawyers fought for testimony that would confirm when Willis and Wade’s ‘personal relationship’ began
The dramatic testimony was broadcast on cable networks
Terrance Bradley, a former law partner of Wade, was the first witness to appear. He and his attorney raised client rights issues when asked about the relationship
The explosive testimony came during a hearing where attorneys are vying for evidence that could decide whether Willis and her team are disqualified from prosecuting Trump and his associates in an election interference case.
Yeartie said she and Willis were “good friends,” but not best friends, and that they hung out together.
“Have you seen them do things that are common for people in romantic relationships,” another lawyer asked her.
“Hugging, kissing, just affection,” Yeartie said.
“Ms. Willis is not on trial,” District Attorney Anna Cross interjected during one of many tense exchanges.
She also joined Willis in the district attorney’s office, although she eventually resigned after some office conflicts. She also rented her apartment to Willis, although she said they did not live together.
“There was no overlap or any length of time that they stayed together,” said her attorney, Durante Partridge.
Yeartie’s testimony came before Wade himself took the stand, and after his former attorney and law partner Terrence Bradley tried to avoid answering questions by citing attorney-client privilege and his consultation with the state bar.
Bradley represented Wade in a divorce proceeding that was the source of some of the explosive information Merchant uncovered, upending Trump’s prosecution, one of the most important criminal cases that could play out before the November election.
The televised hearing Thursday came after Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee determined there was reason to move forward to weigh what evidence would be allowed after the move to disqualify Willis.