Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis became angry during testimony Thursday in a hearing to determine whether she should be disqualified from overseeing the 2020 election interference case she brought against former President Donald Trump and other defendants.
At one point she even snapped at Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who presided over the hearing.
Willis is accused of benefiting financially from employing her then-boyfriend Nathan Wade as a special prosecutor in the election interference case.
The New York Post reported last month that Wade received $250 per hour. The payments to his law office in 2022 and 2023 totaled about $653,880, according to WXIA-TV.
Wade and Willis took lavish personal trips together to such places as Belize, Aruba and California’s Napa Valley. Both testified that they split expenses on the trips.
Wade said he paid for all the vacations on his business card, and both he and Willis told the court that she then paid him back in cash for her portion of the trips.
Wade further stated that there were no records of him depositing the money she gave him. Willis said she did not have records of withdrawing the cash either because it was from money she kept at her home.
Both Willis and Wade wrote in court filings that their romantic relationship did not begin until 2022, after Willis had hired him to serve as a special prosecutor in November 2021.
However, Robin Yeartie, a former friend and employee of Willis, testified Thursday that the relationship began after the two met at a conference in October 2019.
Reuters reported that Willis was not scheduled to testify Thursday, but after Wade’s testimony, she made a “surprise” appearance in the courtroom and took the witness stand.
Should Willis be removed from the Trump case?
Willis became particularly agitated during questioning by Ashleigh Merchant, an attorney for one of the defendants in the election interference case, who filed a motion to have the district attorney and Wade disqualified from prosecuting the case.
“I’ve been very anxious to have this conversation with you today, so I ran to the courtroom,” Willis began, with an edge in her voice.
She accused Merchant of lying about her. “I’m actually surprised that the hearing continued, but since it did, here I am,” Willis said.
At one point during the questioning, McAfee advised Willis to confine her answers to the questions being asked. He began to explain to her that she will have the opportunity to more fully expound when questioned by her Fulton County attorneys.
However, Willis interrupted him and said, “Well, it’s highly offensive when someone lies on you. And it’s highly offensive when they try to implicate that you slept with somebody the first day you met with them, and I take exception to it.”
District Attorney Fani Willis took the stand Thursday in the Fulton County misconduct hearing and began her testimony by slamming the allegations against her: “It’s highly offensive when someone lies on you.”
LIVE UPDATES: https://t.co/zGh2vilGPw pic.twitter.com/FsCKFg5R21
— ABC News (@ABC) February 15, 2024
McAfee later appeared to warn Willis that if she did not stick to answering the questions asked, none of what she said would be considered in the proceeding.
“I’m gonna have to caution this. … Listen to the questions as asked. And if this happens again and again, I’m gonna have no choice but to strike your testimony,” the judge told her.
JUDGE TO FANI WILLIS: “I’m gonna have to caution this… Listen to the questions as asked. If this happens again and again, I’m gonna have no choice but to strike your testimony.” pic.twitter.com/ehav83LN8I
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) February 16, 2024
One of the allegations contained in Merchant’s motion to disqualify Willis is that she cohabited with Wade.
When asked by Merchant whether Wade would ever stay at her condo or visited her there, Willis responded, “So let’s be clear, ’cause you’ve lied in this. Let me tell you which one you lied in. Right here. I think you lied right here,” as she held up three documents.
Someone off-camera then began speaking.
“No, no, no, no, this is the truth!” Willis exclaimed in response. “It is a lie! It is a lie!”
McAfee intervened, saying, “We’re gonna take five minutes. Be back in five.”
CROSS EXAMINER: “Has Nathan Wade ever visited you at a place you laid your head?”
FANI WILLIS: “IT IS A LIE! IT IS A LIE!”🤬
JUDGE: “Let’s take 5.” pic.twitter.com/A5ofvioU68
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 15, 2024
Willis was slated to return to the witness stand on Friday, but Fulton County attorneys informed McAfee that further testimony from her would not be needed, according to USA Today.
If the judge disqualifies Willis and Wade from the case, it would at the very least result in a significant delay in the proceedings against Trump and the other defendants going forward.
