OAN’s Brooke Mallory
6:37 PM – Monday, March 11, 2024
Judge Scott McAfee of Fulton County Superior Court is expected to rule this week on whether special prosecutor Nathan Wade, who had a romantic relationship with district attorney Fani Willis, should be excluded from its investigation and subsequent indictment of former President Donald Trump.
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After listening to final arguments for three hours on March 1st from lawyers for Willis and a few of Trump’s co-defendants, McAfee stated that he intended to rule on the matter “over the next two weeks.”
The Georgia presidential primary on March 12th may take effect while McAfee is still deliberating because the two-week period ends on Friday, March 15th.
In August 2023, Willis, the district attorney, filed indictments against the 45th president and his colleagues on charges of allegedly attempting to rig Georgia’s 2020 election results.
Meanwhile, Willis is being accused of abusing public funds and crossing ethical boundaries while having romantic involvement with Wade, the prosecutor she hired for the case.
Three weeks ago, the criminal indictment of the country’s 45th president was shaken by two days of frequently fiery testimony that was broadcast throughout the nation. Both Willis and Wade claimed during their disqualification hearing that their romantic relationship had ended after Willis hired Wade.
However, two weeks ago, a court filing from Trump’s Georgia attorneys revealed that Wade’s messages and phone calls had been examined by a private investigator. The records revealed that the pair exchanged thousands of messages and phone calls in the months prior to Wade’s employment, exemplifying possible perjury.
Charles Mittlestadt’s report, which was highlighted in Friday’s court filing, showed “more than 2,000 voice calls and just under 12,000 text messages exchanged over the 11-month period in 2021,” according to the application CellHawk, which maps and analyzes cell phone data. “A heat map … highlights the interaction patterns that demonstrate a prevalence of calls made in the evening hours.”
Wade made at least 35 visits to a condo in Hapeville, Georgia, where Willis was residing at the time, according to Mittlestadt’s inquiry. Robin Bryant-Yeartie, the owner of the property, also attested that the two had a relationship prior to Wade’s employment.
Furthermore, Wade stated during his deposition that he had only paid Willis a maximum of ten visits at the property prior to his hiring in November 2021.
Wade’s former legal partner and divorce attorney, Terrence Bradley, admitted in court that he is unsure of the exact date that Wade started dating Willis. Bradley also stated that he was unaware of the exact moment he learned about the relationship, in response to persistent questioning from Ashleigh Merchant, an attorney for one of Trump’s co-defendants in the racketeering charge.
Early in January, Michael Roman, one of Trump’s co-defendants, and his lawyer, Ashleigh Merchant, filed a court document accusing Willis and special prosecutor Wade of having a romantic relationship.
This marked the beginning of the questioning.
Roman, a former assistant in the White House, oversaw Trump’s election-day operations. Roman has entered a not guilty plea to the prosecution’s claim that he was involved in attempts to present a phony list of electors following the 2020 election.
According to Roman’s court petition, Wade utilized a portion of his district attorney’s office pay to travel with Willis, and the two enjoyed opulent vacations together. Additionally, Merchant asserts that she found evidence of Willis and Wade’s travel companionship “outside of court filings.”
A meeting of the Fulton County Board of Ethics regarding two allegations filed against Willis had been canceled. The complaints were listed on the agenda when the special meeting was called, but Chairman Daraka Satcher stated prior to the meeting that since Willis and the other district attorneys are state officers rather than county officials, the board is not authorized to hear the complaints.
Steven Kramer, a resident of Fulton County, and Gregory Mantell, the creator of the Substack site Investigative News Service, filed the two charges against Willis.
Additionally, this week, Merchant was the first individual to receive a subpoena from the recently established special Georgia Senate committee appointed to look into Willis.
A large portion of the evidence presented in court thus far was covered by Merchant, including bank statements demonstrating that Willis and Wade went on cruises and vacations together while pursuing the case, phone records demonstrating Wade frequently stayed overnight at Willis’ then-home, and billing invoices that displayed a 24-hour day and disclosed calendar information such as a meeting between Willis and Vice President Kamala Harris just months prior to the indictment being issued.
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