Willis opts not to retake witness stand in disqualification hearing

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis declined to retake the witness stand Friday amid her effort to fend off a bid by Donald Trump and several co-defendants to remove her from leading the Georgia election interference case.

Willis faced several hours of questioning Thursday from defense lawyers who have accused her of a conflict of interest stemming from her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom Willis hired to help run the case. The defense lawyers say Wade and Willis took luxury trips together using income from Wade’s contract with Fulton County.

The grilling, which Willis submitted to voluntarily after initially resisting testifying, was a remarkable scene — with the lead prosecutor in the historic case facing deeply personal questions about her sexual relationship with a subordinate, her habit of stashing cash in her home and how she helped pay for a slew of vacations she took in 2022 and 2023.

The questioning led to a series of uncomfortable and sometimes hostile exchanges, with Willis berating the defense attorneys for what she said were “lies.”

But it’s unclear whether the defendants have produced evidence that would lead Judge Scott McAfee to disqualify Willis from the case. For Willis to be removed, the judge would have to find that she took official actions in the case that she intended to benefit from financially, or at least that there is an appearance of such a conflict.

Willis and Wade have strenuously denied any such benefits. They said, for instance, that Willis routinely reimbursed Wade for her share of expenses on the vacations they took.

After being questioned by defense lawyers Thursday, Willis was expected to return to the witness stand on Friday to answer questions from a lawyer from her own office. But at the start of the day’s hearing, a lawyer for the district attorney said she had no questions for Willis.

Later on Friday, as the disqualification hearing continued, the district attorney’s office called Willis’ father, John Floyd, who described living with his daughter from 2019 through the early years of the Covid pandemic. He noted that while he had met Wade, he never knew that Willis and Wade were romantically involved until Trump and his allies revealed it in court filings.

Floyd described a harrowing series of threats against Willis, soon after she took on the Trump investigation, that made their house “uninhabitable.” He also described Willis’ habit of storing cash in her house as “a Black thing” — borne of concerns about discrimination he had experienced when attempting to pay with credit cards or checks.

“I told my daughter, you keep six months worth of cash always,” Floyd said.

Trump himself expressed displeasure with the direction of the hearing on Truth Social, saying on Friday morning that the questioning by defense lawyers had been “pretty weak” and suggesting they should have pressed Willis further on how she came to accumulate stockpiles of cash in her house.

While a lawyer for one of Trump’s co-defendants handled the bulk of the questioning of Willis, Trump attorney Steve Sadow also joined in the interrogation.

“I guess they don’t want to insult her,” Trump said of the defense lawyers.

The evidence so far has shown that Willis and Wade took a slew of foreign and domestic vacations and cruises together, and both Willis and Wade testified that they roughly split the cost — with Willis reimbursing Wade in cash. Defense attorneys repeatedly expressed surprise and exasperation that Willis did not corroborate the bills she paid with evidence of cash withdrawals or other bank records.

McAfee may also be considering whether Willis and Wade’s description of their relationship — which they insist began months after Wade joined her team — as accurate. Defense attorneys insist that the two began dating more than a year before the Trump probe began, and one witness on Thursday, a former “close friend” of Willis, supported that timeline. But Willis and Wade both testified that it didn’t start until March 2022.

If McAfee is persuaded they were dishonest, it could have ramifications for the case because it would contradict sworn court filings lodged with the judge earlier this month.

The hearing is likely to extend through the day on Friday, as defense attorneys prepare to call Wade’s former law partner, Terrence Bradley, who they say was aware of Willis and Wade’s relationship when Wade filed for divorce from his wife of more than 20 years in 2021. But Bradley — who briefly took the stand on Thursday — has resisted answering personal questions about Wade, claiming attorney-client privilege. He briefly represented Wade in his divorce proceedings at the time.

Lawyers with Willis’ office said they intend to call several witnesses as well, including her father, who can testify to Willis’ living arrangements and personal relationship during the time period in question.