The Georgia election subversion case against Donald Trump and 14 of his allies took a stunning turn Thursday when two top prosecutors testified under oath about their romantic relationship at a hearing triggered by allegations of self-dealing that have the potential to derail the entire effort.
The all-day hearing escalated steadily throughout the day, culminating with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis taking the witness stand for a combative brawl with defense attorneys that drew several rebukes from the judge.
These are key takeaways:
- Willis' defiant afternoon: Things quickly went off the rails. Willis didn’t act much like a traditional witness on the stand and was more like a prosecutor, arguing with the defense attorneys, raising objections, making legal arguments and even having exchanges with Judge Scott McAfee. She even raised her voice at one point. This led to a few rebukes from McAfee. Willis repeatedly accused some of the defense attorneys of peddling lies – before and after the judge’s admonishment.
- Willis says she's not on trial: Willis seized several opportunities to defend herself. “You think I’m on trial,” Willis said, in her sharpest pushback of the day. “These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020,” she added, pointing toward the table of attorneys representing defendants in the criminal case. “I’m not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial.” She later slammed the defense attorneys, calling them “confused” and “intrusive.”
- When did the relationship start? On the stand, prosecutor Nathan Wade stuck to his earlier claim – in a sworn affidavit submitted to the court – that his romantic relationship with Willis began in early 2022 and that they split travel and vacation expenses. But Robin Bryant-Yeartie, a former friend of Willis and Fulton County employee, contradicted that claim, testifying that she had “no doubt” that the Willis-Wade affair began in late 2019. Notably, that would be before Willis hired Wade to lead the Trump probe in late 2021.
- Wade and Willis describe using cash for reimbursements: Wade and Willis have offered a simple explanation for why there’s essentially no paper trail to back up his claims they split expenses: Willis used cash.
- When did the relationship end? There was also a dispute over when the relationship ended, and whether it had any impact on the decision to seek the massive RICO indictment against Trump and others last August. Both said the relationship ended in summer 2023. Willis implied that the physical component ended earlier in the summer, but that the two had a “tough conversation” that fully ended things afterward.
- Huge distraction from Trump's charges: Nothing that happened Thursday undercut the factual allegations against Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, or the other GOP allies who are accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election. But the hearing shifted the conversation away from those allegation and away from Trump’s legal woes for now.
