Trump DA Fani Willis fights back on the stand in Georgia election interference case: 'I'm not on trial.'
Pool
- Fulton County DA Fani Willis defended herself on the stand during a Thursday hearing.
- The hearing delved into whether Willis misrepresented her relationship with the lead lawyer in Trump's Georgia case.
- The details of Willis' relationship with the prosecutor have become a significant point of contention in the case.
ATLANTA, Georgia — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis fought back against allegations about her personal life during a Thursday court hearing on whether she misrepresented her relationship with Nathan Wade, the prosecutor hired as lead lawyer in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump.
"You're confused. You think I'm on trial," Willis quipped to a defense attorney. "These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. I'm not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial."
An attorney for Willis made one last attempt to keep her off the stand this week, but after defense attorney Craig Gillen argued the case "cries out for her testimony."
Willis entered the courtroom and said she was willing to take the stand.
In a hot pink dress, and visibly displeased, Willis took the stand eager to tell her story, uninterrupted and had choice words for the defense attorney questioning her.
"'Ms. Merchant's interests are contrary to democracy," Willis said early on in her testimony, referring to defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant's questions about Willis' relationship with both Wade and her former friend Robin Bryant Yeartie.
Yeartie testified in the case Thursday, saying Willis and Wade began a relationship in 2019, contradicting his prior claims.
"She betrayed my friendship," Willis said of Yeartie on the stand.
The details of Willis' relationship with Wade, whether or not it was an affair, and who paid for their exotic vacations have taken center stage in Trump's election interference case.
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Lawyers for Trump, Mike Roman — the codefendant whose lawyer, Merchant, rocked the interference case by accusing Willis and Wade of having an improper relationship — and other codefendants in the case have argued that the trips Wade put on his credit card count as financial benefits and should disqualify Willis from the case.
Wade, however, says Willis paid him back in cash, or would balance out the finances by picking up checks for their outings.
Wade testified Thursday that he and his ex had a marriage that was broken in 2015 when she had an affair, and they had agreed to divorce after their kids moved out. He said he and Willis met at a conference in 2019, but didn't become intimate until the spring of 2022, after she already hired him to lead the Trump prosecution.
When Willis took the stand, she testified that the first time she and Wade vacationed together was around April 2022 when she took him to Tennessee for his birthday.
She shared details about additional trips the two took together, including a New Year's cruise to Miami, for which she said she paid, and a cruise with Wade and his mother in October 2022, for which Willis said Wade initially paid before she paid him back.
Willis also said she keeps a lot of cash in her house and used that money to pay Wade back for their trips.
"I'm sure the source of the money is always the blood, sweat, and tears of me," Willis said, before snapping at Merchant and accusing her of mischaracterizing her testimony about the payments.
Willis was verbose on the stand, cracking jokes and snapping at the defense attorney as she appeared eager to take back control of the case.
Dozens of reporters were squeezed into the back three rows of the downtown Atlanta courtroom, awaiting bombshell testimony from Wade and Willis.
Emotions on the stand were palpable, with lawyers and reporters in the audience tensing up or laughing out loud depending on the testimony.
The judge ordered a brief break after Willis began shouting while quipping to Merchant: "Don't be cute with me."
After court resumed, the judge told Willis to answer the questions calmly, lest he be forced to strike her testimony from the record.
Testimony will continue Friday.
This story was updated.