A former co-worker and friend from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis admitted to testimony on Thursday that Willis had a personal rapport with an attorney started before she was able to hire him to head the case of election interference in the case against Donald Trump.
Robin Yeartie’s testimony contradicts claims made by Willis as well as Nathan Wade that their personal relationship did not begin until Wade was appointed in November 2021. Wade who took the witness stand following Yeartie admitted the relationship he had with Willis began in the beginning of 2022.
The two witnesses were heard in an upcoming hearing to decide the issue of whether Willis should be reprimanded from the case, accusing Trump as well as others with collaborating to rig the results of the presidential election in 2020 in Georgia. Willis being removed from the case could be a major move in the sprawling among the criminal trials against Trump. Another delay will likely decrease the chances that a trial could take place prior to the November election, which is when Trump is expected to become the Republican presidential candidate.
In the court filings earlier the same month Willis as well as Wade said they had no personal relationship at the time Wade was appointed, and the two Willis were both on the same travel budget but never lived together.
However, Yeartie who was previously employed at the office of the district attorney and testified at the trial that she witnessed Wade and Willis kissing and hugging before November 2021.
Since allegations of an indiscreet relationship emerged last month in the motion that was filed in the name of Trump defendant Michael Roman, the former president has made use of the allegations to attempt to undermine the credibility of Willis the case. Others Republicans have also cited them when asking for an investigation into Willis as an incumbent Democrat who is seeking an election this year.
In a separate courtroom held in New York on Thursday, an appeals court ruled that President the criminal case involving Trump’s hush money will continue as scheduled with jury selection beginning on the 25th of March.
The testimony of Yeartie began following a lengthy dispute between lawyers over the questions that must be answered during the hearing. The hearing could lead to digging into the thorny aspects of Willis and Wade’s relationship.
Roman’s attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, has summoned Willis, Wade, seven other employees of the office of the district attorney as well as others for example, Wade’s ex-business associate, Terrence Bradley. Bradley appeared on the witness stand earlier on Thursday, but did not respond to questions from Merchant and cited attorney-client privilege.
Roman Roman, an ex- Trump campaign staffer and a former White House aide, alleged that Willis and Wade were engaged in an illicit romance that began prior to the time Wade was appointed. The motion claims that Willis paid Wade huge sums of money for his work, and later profited personally when he paid for vacations for both of them, which created a conflict of interests.
Roman is now was joined in the case by Trump along with several other defendants and is now requesting McAfee to throw out the indictment as well as stop Willis, Wade and their offices from becoming implicated in the case.
Willis claimed she does not have a personal or financial conflicts of interest that justify exempting her office from the trial. The complaint called the allegations “salacious” and said they were crafted to make headlines.
McAfee told a court Monday that Willis may be exempted “if evidence is produced demonstrating an actual conflict or the appearance of one.”
He stated that the questions that he would like to discuss at the hearing is “whether a relationship existed, whether that relationship was romantic or nonromantic in nature, when it formed and whether it continues.” These issues are relevant only, stated, “in combination with the question of the existence and extent of any personal benefit conveyed as a result of the relationship.”