Hearings on Trump's criminal cases in New York and Georgia

A witness in the hearing over whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified from the 2020 election subversion case said Thursday that the romantic relationship between Willis and her top attorney began in late 2019, undercutting Willis’ claims in court filings about when it began.

“She told me they met at a conference,” in October of 2019, Willis’ longtime friend and former employee Robin Bryant Yeartie testified Thursday.

Yeartie told defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant that Willis and Nathan Wade began a romantic relationship shortly after the conference in 2019, and that the relationship continued into 2022.

Why it matters: Wade said in an affidavit filed in court by the district attorney’s office that he and Willis “developed a personal relationship in addition to our professional association and friendship” in 2022 — after Willis hired Wade as special prosecutor in late 2021. 

More on the witness: Yeartie took the stand after Judge Scott McAfee denied a motion to quash a subpoena for her.

Durante Partridge, an attorney for Yeartie, had tried to push back against the need for his client to testify at the hearing, saying she didn’t have any information to provide about Willis’ personal relationship with another prosecutor – the controversy at the heart of Thursday’s hearing.

Defense attorneys in the case previously claimed Yeartie could provide information about Willis and Wade staying together at a residence tied to Yeartie. Partridge said she did not have information about.

Donald Trump could potentially claim enough delegates to become the presumptive Republican nominee before the March 25 start date for the former president’s first criminal trial in New York.

A look at the numbers: A candidate needs 1,215 delegates to win the GOP nomination. The soonest Trump could surpass the delegate threshold is March 12, at which point 1,366 delegates will have been awarded. Another 350 delegates are at stake on March 19 with nominating contests in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio. 

CNN currently estimates Trump has won 63 delegates while former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley – his last remaining primary rival – has won 17 delegates.

While Trump may effectively bring an end to the GOP nominating fight before his first criminal case begins, the proceedings could disrupt the former president’s pivot to a general election matchup with President Joe Biden – dividing his attention between his legal battles and his presidential campaign.

Manhattan district attorney prosecutors said they do not want to ask jurors specifically about their political affiliations or about their political donations that would get at the question indirectly.

"This case is not supposed to be about politics," Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Josh Steinglass said. 

Defense attorney Todd Blanche disagreed, saying it can’t be ignored.

"We are not interested in whether someone likes or dislikes President Trump," Steinglass pushed back. 

The prosecutors care only that the jurors can be fair and impartial regardless of politics, Steinglass reiterated. 

Judge Juan Merchan agreed, adding, "It would be inappropriate to simply ask or want to know if somebody dislikes your client. The issue is whether people can be fair and impartial."

The first witness to take the stand was the man whom defendants in the 2020 election racketeering case believed could stand up their allegations of impropriety between Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her top attorney Nathan Wade. But he didn't do that — not even close.

That's because the legal ethics that bind attorneys prevented the witness, Terrence Bradley, from divulging what he knew of Wade and Willis' relationship.

Bradley was Wade's law partner, and also served as his divorce attorney years ago. Wade and his wife separated then filed for divorce in 2021, according to court records. Bradley represented Nathan Wade in the divorce until 2022, according to the record.

Because of that setup, where he was the attorney and Wade was the client, Bradley can't share information he would have known from Wade's divorce proceeding without Wade's permission.

Thus, he told the judge on Thursday he didn't have "independent knowledge" of the Wade-Willis relationship that he could testify to as a witness.

Defendants in the Trump case are trying to unearth evidence in court on Thursday that would show Willis and Wade had a romantic relationship, that Willis benefited from financially, before Willis hired Wade in late 2021 to work on the Trump case.

A key witness in the case to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the 2020 election subversion case is arguing that he can’t testify about the origins of her personal relationship with her lead prosecutor.

Shortly after taking the stand, the witness, Terrence Bradley, was asked by defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant about when lead prosecutor Nathan Wade began a relationship with Willis. Bradley previously served as Wade’s divorce attorney.

Bradley objected to the question. He cited attorney-client privilege and said he does not have "independent knowledge" of the relationship that he can testify to.

He says he has consulted with the bar, which governs how attorneys can conduct themselves.

The judge has called that into question: Judge Scott McAfee suggested during Thursday’s hearing that Bradley may be taking attorney-client privilege too far.

Judge Juan Merchan is going over potential questions to jurors in jury selection, including their views about the 2020 election and whether they belong to fringe groups. 

Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Josh Steinglass suggested they model some jury questions about news consumption and political affiliations on Judge Lewis Kaplan's method used in the E. Jean Carroll trial.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche strongly pushed back against that idea.

Blanche objected to questions about whether prospective jurors are members of extremist groups like QAnon, Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office responded that they'd be happy to add any other left extremist groups Trump's team wants to list -- Antifa was already on the list.

Blanche also objected to a question about whether prospective jurors believed the 2020 election was stolen, arguing that a question about the election had no relevance to the New York criminal fraud case.

The jury pool is tainted by the media saturation in this city because of coverage of the recent civil fraud trial and the Carroll trial, Blanche argued, which he says contained salacious allegations against Trump.

The lawyers also debated what media outlets should be included on a question about media consumption.

Blanche also said they want to specifically ask jurors whether they have listened to any podcasts or read any books by Michael Cohen or Mark Pomerantz because they specifically discuss facts of this case. Based on a request from Steinglass, Merchan will also ask the jury pool if they've read any books authored by Trump.

Merchan did not rule on the questions that would be included during Thursday’s hearing

As Todd Blanche delivers extended protests during Thursday's hearing on Donald Trump's upcoming criminal trial in New York, it's clear he's partially putting on a show for an “audience of one” – his client sitting several feet to the right of him.

Blanche argued that the trial date was “unconstitutional,” raising concerns about both the three additional criminal trials Trump has as well as the 2024 presidential election.

Trump, sitting alongside Blanche at the defense table, looked on at his lawyer as he argued with the judge.

Judge Juan Merchan dismissed Blanche’s objections, saying that Trump would not be on trial in two places at the same time.

Blanche then tried a new tactic, arguing there had been media saturation of Trump’s trials with the New York civil fraud trial and the E. Jean Carroll defamation case.

Merchan wasn’t having it.

Defense attorneys for Donald Trump also brought up Michael Cohen’s testimony in a separate case, suggesting the Manhattan district attorney should be investigating him for perjury.

Cohen — Trump's former lawyer and a key part of this hush money probe — testified as part of the separate civil fraud case brought by the New York attorney general. (A verdict on that case is expected Friday.)

Defense attorney Todd Blanche, citing Cohen's testimony in the civil fraud case, said that Cohen committed perjury "across the street" two months ago.

During the civil fraud trial, Cohen went back on his claims that Trump told him directly to fraudulently inflate his property values, saying that Trump made clear what he wanted even if he hadn't said it outright.

District Attorney’s office attorney Matthew Colangelo didn't address the claim of an investigation but said the defense will have an opportunity to cross examine Cohen to address those issues which the prosecutor said is the most appropriate way to address that concern.

Heading into court in New York on Thursday, former President Donald Trump claimed President Joe Biden’s White House is running the hush-money case that was brought against him by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. 

“What it is, is election interference. It’s being run by Joe Biden’s White House. His top person was placed here in order to make sure everything goes right,” Trump said. He continued, “His top person, Colangelo, and some others have been placed into the DA’s office to make sure they do a good job of election interference.”  

Facts First: There is no basis for Trump’s claims. First, there is no evidence Biden’s White House has any role in running the district attorney’s case. Second, there is no evidence the White House or the Biden administration had anything to do with senior Justice Department official Matthew Colangelo’s decision to leave the department and join the Manhattan district attorney’s office in 2022 as senior counsel to Bragg. Colangelo and Bragg knew each other before Bragg was elected Manhattan district attorney.

Colangelo and Bragg previously worked at the same time in the office of New York’s state attorney general, where Colangelo investigated Trump’s charity and Trump’s financial practices and was involved in bringing various lawsuits against the Trump administration.

On a minor point, Colangelo was never Biden’s very top official at the Justice Department. Colangelo served as acting associate attorney general in the first months of the Biden administration in early 2021 and then as principal deputy associate attorney general. As acting associate attorney general, he was third in command of the department.

Justice Department prosecutors declined both in the middle and at the end of Trump’s term to pursue federal charges against Trump over the hush money case, CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig reported in a 2023 book. 

Honig reported that federal prosecutors in New York decided against pursuing charges in 2018 on account of longstanding Justice Department guidance that a sitting president can’t be indicted. Honig reported that in January 2021, just before Trump left office that month, federal prosecutors in New York held discussions about possibly reviving the case but again decided not to seek an indictment.