Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis started a romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade shortly after a municipal court conference in 2019, long before the pair began prosecuting former President Donald Trump for alleged election interference, a college friend of Ms. Willis testified Thursday.
The testimony contradicts an affidavit from Mr. Wade stating that he and Ms. Willis began seeing each other in 2022.
Robin Yeartie’s testimony, delivered via Zoom to an Atlanta courtroom, speaks to a key point in a defense motion seeking to disqualify Ms. Willis from a case that alleges Mr. Trump and 18 co-defendants violated state racketeering laws with efforts to overturn President Biden’s 2020 election win in Georgia.
Trump co-defendant Michael Roma, filed a bombshell motion alleging that Ms. Willis benefited from the prosecution because she hired Mr. Wade, a lawyer, to work on the case and then took luxury trips with him in an apparent romantic relationship.
Ms. Yeartie said she became friends with Ms. Willis in school in the 1990s and even let Ms. Willis live in her condo beginning in April 2021.
She testified that she saw expressions of affection between the pair before November 2021, which is when Ms. Willis hired Mr. Wade to work on the investigation. This assertion contradicts an affidavit from Mr. Wade that said the relationship began months after his hiring.
Mr. Roman’s attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, asked Ms. Yeartie whether she had any doubts about the relationship starting in 2019.
“No doubt,” Ms. Yeartie said, adding she last spoke to Ms. Willis in early 2022.
Ms. Willis has acknowledged her relationship with Mr. Wade but said it is no reason to disqualify her, saying they maintained separate residences and bank accounts.
Judge Scott McAfee has said disqualification is on the table but only if there is evidence that Ms. Willis’ relationship with Mr. Wade resulted in a financial conflict.
Ms. Willis began investigating Mr. Trump three years ago, based on his efforts to pressure Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to dig up enough votes to overturn Mr. Biden’s victory in the state in 2020. A grand jury last year indicted Mr. Trump and his associates.
The former president faces 13 counts, including a violation of Georgia racketeering laws; solicitation of a violation of an oath by a public officer; and several counts related to alleged conspiracies to commit forgery, make false statements and writings or make false filings.
However, his co-defendants face an assortment of charges — there are 41 counts in all — that at times overlap with those against Mr. Trump.
The debate over Ms. Willis’ alleged relationship with Mr. Wade is part of only one of four criminal matters facing Mr. Trump as he campaigns as the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination.
Political and legal pundits thought the Georgia case was particularly strong, given a recording of Mr. Trump leaning on Georgia officials over the election results and guilty pleas in which three former Trump attorneys agreed to testify for prosecutors.
Now, the court must decide how to remedy the situation between Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade, something that could slow down the path to trial.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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