ATLANTA — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis took the stand Thursday afternoon, testifying at a hearing on whether she should be disqualified from the Georgia 2020 election RICO case involving Donald Trump and his alleged co-conspirators.
Willis took the stand, hoping to clear up what she calls improper characterizations of her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
“When did you all start dating?" asked defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant.
"When I started dating Mr. Wade, it was right around in..." she began before being cut off by Merchant, who asked, "April 2022?"
"Twenty-two,” Willis said, confirming their relationship began in April 2022 as she testified about her relationship with Wade.
She was asked everything from who paid for their dates to details of vacations they took together.
“You all stayed in Napa Valley, and he paid for the plane ticket and the hotel? And what did you pay for on that trip?" Merchant asked.
Willis confirmed he paid for both the plane tickets and the hotel.
“I gave him much less cash that time, probably four, five hundred dollars,” Willis responded as she attempted to defend accusations that Wade used money he made from the election interference case to pay for various trips that they took together.
She testified that they took three trips together. Two, which she reimbursed him for, and one she paid for outright.
“We would have brutal arguments about the fact that I am your equal. I don’t need anything from a man, a man is not a plan. A man is a companion, and so there was tension always in our relationship, which is why I would give him his money back. I don’t need anybody to foot my bills. The only man who would foot my bills completely is my daddy,” Willis said in her testimony.
But prior to Willis taking the stand, former DA’s office employee Robin Yeartie testified that Willis and Wade's relationship began prior to what Willis stated.
“Do you know if Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade started dating in October of 2019?" Merchant asked.
"I don’t know if it was October of 2019," Yeartie answered.
"Could it possibly be 2019?” Merchant asked in a follow-up question.
"Quite possible,” Yeartie responded.
Special prosecutor Nathan Wade was also questioned.
“It says to identify any and all locations where you entertained a member of the other sex, who's not related to blood, and including dining, drinking, restaurants, bars, restaurants, pubs, hotels -- all of that, and what was your answer to that?” Merchant read to Wade.
“None," Wade responded to the questions he made in his divorce affidavit.
Concerns are now being raised about the inconsistent responses Wade made in his divorce affidavit and statements made during Thursday's testimony.