Trump Georgia case hearing on motion to disqualify Fani Willis continues

The evidentiary hearing in Georgia over whether to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has concluded for the time being, a judge said Friday.

The attorneys will likely have to return in the next few weeks to discuss outstanding issues, including whether Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor Willis hired to lead the case, can still assert attorney-client privilege over some testimony and evidence from his former law partner and divorce attorney, Terrence Bradley.

Both defense attorneys and prosecutors also will have the opportunity to file additional legal briefs as they see fit.

The evidentiary hearing included a tumultuous two days of testimony, including from Willis herself. Before the hearing concluded, the district attorney’s office sought to undermine Bradley’s credibility, including by raising an allegation of sexual assault by an employee of his former law firm. Bradley denied the allegation.

Bradley testified earlier Friday that he left the firm following a “disagreement,” but said the details of the disagreement were privileged. During cross examination, Bradley was pressed on whether he left because of a disagreement over a sexual assault allegation made against him.

“That is not correct,” Bradley said, but confirmed that he was accused of sexually assaulting a member of the firm.

The judge presiding over the case, Scott McAfee, questioned whether Bradley had been properly interpreting the privilege he had previously asserted over communications with Wade, given his testimony on the allegation.

Witness Terrence Bradley looks on from the witness stand during a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse on February 16 in Atlanta.

Defense attorneys have continued to try to get information from Nathan Wade’s former law partner and one-time attorney about Wade’s relationship with District Attorney Fani Willis — specifically over the timing of when their relationship began. 

Terrence Bradley, Wade’s former divorce attorney, has repeatedly asserted attorney-client privilege when asked about information he learned from Wade. The judge presiding over the case has acknowledged the privilege exists and has limited what attorneys can question Bradley about.

Bradley did, however, acknowledge that defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant sent him a copy of her motion to dismiss Willis days before she filed it in January. The filing leveled allegations that Willis and Wade engaged in an improper romantic relationship from which Willis financially benefitted.

Bradley had split from the law firm where he and Wade were partners, saying it was over a “disagreement.” When pressed on what the disagreement was about, Bradley said it was also privileged information and that “the disagreement is mine to know.”

The hearing has now wrapped up for the day.

Former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and current Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens talk amongst themselves as they sit in the gallery during a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse on February 16, in Atlanta.

Several prominent Georgia Democrats and local political heavyweights have been present in the Fulton County courtroom over the last two days to support District Attorney Fani Willis as she faces potential disqualification in former President Donald Trump’s election interference case.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, a Democrat, was sitting close to the front row behind the DA’s team Friday morning. “After seeing some of coverage last evening, the Mayor felt compelled to walk over to the Courthouse in a show of solidarity and have a presence there,” Dickens’ press secretary said in a statement to CNN. 

At a news conference from City Hall after the hearing took a lunch break, Dickens said, “Women are under attack across this country, and she does not need to feel like she is alone.”

“We know who’s on trial, and it’s not her. It’s Donald Trump for attempting to steal an election,” Dickens said. 

Asked if he believes that Willis has the support of Fulton County after her Thursday testimony, Dickens told CNN: “Yes. And certainly the City of Atlanta.”

Former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, the first woman to hold the post, and Charlie Bailey, a 2022 candidate for Lt. Governor, also have attended the court proceedings.

African Methodist Episcopal Bishop Reginald Jackson, a spiritual adviser of Willis and head of an historic black church in the Atlanta area, also was seen in court on Friday, as was Gerald Griggs, president of the Georgia NAACP.

Witness Terrence Bradley looks on from the witness stand during a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse on February 16, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee has ruled that defense attorneys in the Georgia election subversion case can’t ask Nathan Wade’s former law partner, Terrence Bradley, about what Wade told him about his relationship with District Attorney Fani Willis.

McAfee said he would go over those conversations with Bradley, the former law partner who also represented Wade in his divorce, in a closed-door hearing without prosecutors or defense lawyers present. 

Defense attorneys had been trying to overcome Bradley’s claims of attorney-client privilege. Ashleigh Merchant, a defense attorney, wanted to introduce into evidence texts she exchanged with Bradley in 2023 about the relationship between Willis and Wade.

At one point, Merchant asked Bradley about a September text in which he declined to help her find someone who could provide a sworn statement about the relationship.

Bradley testified that he has “no personal knowledge of when” Willis and Wade began their relationship outside of direct communications with Wade.

Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade looks on during a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse on February 15 in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Donald Trump may be winning politically in Georgia this week by shifting attention to the personal lives of prosecutors pursuing the criminal case against him in Fulton County.

But his lawyers have also looked for opportunities like these in the criminal cases he faces to plant the seeds for a legal win later on by damaging prosecutors’ credibility enough to help him before a jury.

Trump has repeatedly tried to claim publicly, including in remarks outside of a Manhattan courtroom Thursday, that he is the victim of a Biden administration conspiracy. Defense teams sometimes aim for these types of smears of prosecutors to help them by seeping into the public consciousness. When it comes time to pick jurors, distrust in the justice system or prosecutors could help Trump if even one selected juror wants to acquit because of feelings the case wasn’t fair.

It’s called jury nullification — and it’s a flaw in the justice system that courts strenuously try to avoid in the courtroom. However, a nullified jury — unwilling to vote based on the facts of the case before them — can pop up sometimes, especially in high-profile or controversial cases.

It still remains to be seen, however, if the most immediate fallout of the Fani Willis and Nathan Wade situation is the top prosecutors’ removal from the Trump case, which could potentially derail a trial indefinitely.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis enteres a room in the Fulton County Government Center ahead of a news conference, Monday, August 14, in Atlanta. 

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis reemerged in the spotlight last year after her office charged 19 co-defendants, including Donald Trump, regarding efforts by the former president and his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

She campaigned on the premise of restoring integrity to the Fulton County district attorney’s office, was elected after ousting six-term incumbent Paul Howard and inherited a stack of backlogged cases.

Within a month, her office was firing off letters to Georgia officials asking them to preserve documents related to attempts to influence the state’s 2020 election.

Besides leading the election subversion probe, Willis has also brought anti-corruption indictments against Grammy-winning rapper Young Thug and his associates. The district attorney has spoken fondly of RICO – the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act – and has used it in unorthodox ways to bring charges against school officials and musicians, including Young Thug.

From California by way of Washington, DC, Willis obtained her undergraduate degree from Howard University in 1992 and graduated from Emory School of Law in 1996, according to her biography. Her name, Fani, is Swahili and means “prosperous,” and her father was a lawyer and Black Panther.

According to a South Atlanta Magazine profile, she worked in the private sector for five years before becoming assistant district attorney for Fulton County in 2001.

Read more about Fulton County’s first female district attorney.

The court has resumed after taking a break.

John Floyd, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ father, testified on Friday that he and his daughter experienced “nightmarish threats” after she was sworn in as district attorney.

Floyd began his testimony by discussing how Willis was forced to move from her home after a group of people harassed her and sent her death threats.

Once Willis moved, she kept the location of her new home secret from her father due to the threats, he testified.

They have seen each other rarely since, only “13 times” since she left her original home, and for no more than three hours each time, due to the danger.

“It’s hard for me to talk about,” Floyd said. 

John Floyd gestures from the witness stand during a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse on February 16, in Atlanta. 

John Floyd, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ father, testified Friday that he taught his daughter to “hide cash” in case she needed it.

Defense attorneys had pushed Willis over why she would keep a prevalence of cash in her home, which she said used to pay Nathan Wade back for various expenses. Floyd’s testimony corroborates Willis’ statements that she was taught to always have cash handy.

“Maybe, and excuse me your honor, I’m not trying to be racist, but it’s a black thing,” Floyd said. “I was trained, and most black folks, they hide cash or they keep cash, and I was trained you always keep some cash.”

“I gave my daughter her first cash box and told her, ‘always keep some cash,’” Floyd said.

Floyd referenced a time he had trouble paying for his meal at a restaurant several years ago to Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“I had a American Express credit card and maybe a Visa,” Floyd said, as well as “a lot of what they call traveler’s checks.”

“For whatever reasons the man would not take my American Express credit card,” Floyd said. “So, I pulled out my Visa card, and he wouldn’t take my Visa card. So then I pulled out my traveler’s checks, and he said ‘we don’t take checks.’”

“The bill for my wife at the time … Fani and myself was like $9.95, I had a $10 bill. And I always remember that,” he said.

John Floyd speaks in Atlanta on Friday.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ father testified Friday that he first met Nathan Wade, who Willis had a romantic relationship with, in 2023.

“I did not meet Nathan Wade until 2023, about a year ago, when a reporter … interviewed me. That was the first time I met him,” John Floyd testified.

Floyd said Willis never told him about her relationship with Wade before that day.

Wade and Willis have testified that they began their relationship in early 2022, but a former Fulton County employee testified the relationship began well before Wade was selected by Willis to lead the investigation into Trump in late 2021.

Floyd also testified he moved into his daughter’s home in 2019 and that Willis had to move out after she began receiving threats and harassment at the house when she became the district attorney.

John Floyd, Fani Willis' father, takes the stand in Atlanta on Friday.

Fani Willis’s father, John Floyd, took the stand in the hearing over whether to dismiss his daughter, the district attorney for Fulton County, from the case against Donald Trump and others.

Floyd began his testimony by describing how Willis was forced to move from her home after a group of people began harassing her and making death threats outside her home after she was elected as district attorney.

“They said they were going to blow up the house, they were going to kill me, they were going to kill my grandchildren … I was concerned for her safety,” Floyd said.

Former Georgia Governor Roy Barnes testifies during a hearing on 'misconduct' allegations against Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia, on February 16. 

Former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes testified Friday that he declined District Attorney Fani Willis’ request to be special prosecutor because he was uncomfortable with the high-profile nature of the Georgia election interference case.

Prosecutors with the district attorney’s office called Barnes, asking him about Willis’ request to become the special prosecutor before Nathan Wade was hired. An attorney for the district attorney, Anna Cross, used the questioning to try and establish that Willis looked to hire other prosecutors before turning to Wade, and did not act purposefully to give Wade a high-paying job for her own benefit. 

Barnes testified that in 2021, Willis “asked me if I’d be interested in being special prosecutor, to which I replied that I have mouths to feed at a law office and that I could not, would not do that.” 

Barnes said that he previously prosecuted high-profile cases, during which he faced several threats.

Barnes spoke highly of both Wade and Willis during his testimony, at one point calling the district attorney “a very qualified young woman.”

As for Wade, he said he wasn’t surprised that he was serving as special prosecutor in the case.

“Nathan is a good organizer. Nathan can organize stuff – I’ve watched him over the years,” he said. 

Former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes testifies at the Fulton County courthouse in Atlanta on Friday.

Prosecutors have called former Georgia Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes to testify in a hearing over whether to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the election interference case. 

Barnes was offered the special prosecutor position before Willis hired Nathan Wade for the job, but the former governor ultimately declined to take the position.

The hearing is taking a brief recess. It is not clear who, if anyone will be called to testify next.

Fulton County Special prosecutor Anna Cross, who is representing the Fulton County District Attorney's office, looks at District Attorney Fani Willis as she enters the courtroom to testify yesterday in Atlanta.

The Fulton County prosecutors felt they got enough from Fani Willis’ testimony on Thursday to beat back the disqualification attempts, making further testimony on Friday unnecessary, two sources familiar with their thinking told CNN.

Willis spent more than two hours on the witness stand Thursday, and she was expected to resume testifying Friday. But prosecutors unexpectedly announced at the start of the hearing that they didn’t have any questions for Willis’ cross-examination.

“The state has no further questions for Ms. Willis,” prosecutor Anna Cross said.

What this means: The decision could be strategically helpful to the prosecutors. By declining to question Willis, the prosecutors are now depriving the defense attorneys of another opportunity to take a second crack at her and ask additional questions.

It also means the spectacle of Willis on the stand won’t be prolonged into a second day. The combative tussling with defense attorneys, and repeated rebukes from the judge, created an all-day frenzy that diverted the case far away from the election subversion allegations against former President Donald Trump and more than a dozen of his GOP allies.

The burden is on the defense attorneys to demonstrate that there is an improper financial relationship between Willis and her top prosecutor, Nathan Wade, who was her former romantic partner. It’s a relatively high bar under Georgia law to disqualify the prosecution team over conflict-of-interest questions, and the decision will be ultimately up to the judge.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testifies during a hearing at the Fulton County Courthouse yesterday in Atlanta.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has concluded her testimony, a lawyer for her office said Friday.

Willis was expected to be cross-examined by District Attorney lawyer Anna Cross, but Cross said at the beginning of Friday’s hearing that she did not have any additional questions.

Attorneys for the state and the defendants charged in the case are debating what will happen next in the hearing, and it is not clear who will be called to testify next, if anyone.

The second day of evidentiary hearings over whether to dismiss Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the Georgia election subversion case has begun. 

Judge Scott McAfee said Thursday he is not issuing any rulings at the end of today’s hearing, but will take everything under advisement and rule at a later date.

In a day of raw drama Thursday in a handful of cities, in multiple cases involving defiant personalities often trading personal smears that tightened the fateful knot between the 2024 election and former President Donald Trump’s staggering legal battle.

Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing in all cases. But his legal strategy was clearer than ever at the end of a tempestuous day. First, seek to delay any trials or potential convictions until after the election. Second, allege criminality by those who are calling him to account.

Trump’s last resort is a coordinated effort to impugn prosecutors, judges and courts to hedge against any possible guilty verdicts and to destroy their credibility among undecided voters.

Read more analysis here.

A judge will continue to hear testimony Friday in a hearing that could derail the election subversion case against Donald Trump and others.

Judge Scott McAfee is considering whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified from the case based on allegations that she and Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to lead the case, engaged in an improper romantic relationship which financially benefitted the district attorney.

Here’s what to watch:

The allegations against Wade and Willis: The alleged affair was first raised by Trump’s co-defendant, former 2020 campaign official Mike Roman. Last month in a court filing he accused Willis of financially benefiting from selecting Wade to lead the case. Roman alleges that Wade took Willis on lavish vacations, paid partly with what he billed her office for work on the case. Willis appointed Wade in 2021.

What if Willis is disqualified? If McAfee decides to grant Trump and his co-defendants’ motions and remove Willis from prosecuting the sprawling RICO case, under Georgia law the case would automatically be re-assigned to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, a bipartisan collaboration of six district attorneys and three solicitors general from across the state. The council’s executive director would be responsible for either appointing a new district attorney from a separate county to oversee the case or a private lawyer, attorney general, or one of the members of the council.

Why this matters: Any delay could mean Trump could avoid a trial on his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat or connections to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack until after Election Day. Trump’s federal trial is already delayed due to a request for the Supreme Court to intervene.

Read more about what to look out for ahead of the Fulton County DA misconduct hearing.

Developments out of Fulton County aren’t the only ones that could potentially impact Donald Trump today.

The former president and his real estate business could possibly learn Friday how much a judge overseeing the New York civil fraud case will order him to pay for fraudulently inflating his financial statements for a decade. 

Judge Arthur Engoron initially said he hoped to issue the ruling following a three-month trial at the end of January. Since then, the monitor overseeing the Trump Organization issued a report and the judge inquired about news articles of a possible perjury plea deal by former Trump organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg.  

It appears any delays caused by those two events have now been resolved. 

The New York attorney general’s office sued Trump alleging he engaged in a decade-long fraud by inflating the value of properties to obtain better rates on loans and insurance. They also allege Trump and others violated numerous other New York laws related to the issuance of false financial statements. 

The state is seeking more than $370 million and to ban Trump from doing business in New York State. They are also seeking to ban his two adult sons from running a business in the state for five years. 

Trump and his sons have denied any wrongdoing and said no one was harmed by the alleged fraud.