9 months ago
One of the top prosecutors on the Georgia criminal case against Donald Trump was ordered to testify on Thursday after a witness contradicted the prosecutor’s claim about when he began a romantic relationship with his boss, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
The decision by Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee is a blow for Willis and her team as they try to stave off an effort by Trump and other defendants to disqualify them from the case. The defendants argue that Willis’ romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade presents a conflict of interest because Wade allegedly used income he earned from his work on the case to pay for vacations with Willis.
While acknowledging a personal relationship, Willis and Wade have denied wrongdoing and said defense lawyers have misrepresented the facts. McAfee is holding an evidentiary hearing on the matter in Atlanta.
A key question is whether Willis and Wade began the relationship before or after Willis hired Wade as a contract attorney in November 2021 to help lead the Trump probe.
McAfee’s decision to force Wade to take the stand followed testimony from Robin Yeartie, a woman who once considered herself a “good friend” of Willis, who testified via Zoom Thursday morning and said the district attorney began dating Wade in 2019, long before the investigation began.
The sworn testimony from Yeartie, who had a falling out with Willis two years ago, contradicts Willis’ claim — made in her own court filings this month — that her personal relationship with Wade began in 2022, after the probe began and after she had hired Wade to work under contract with her office.
If the defendants succeed in their bid to remove Willis and other prosecutors, it would likely cause severe delays and disruptions to the case, in which Trump and his allies are charged with a racketeering conspiracy to subvert the state’s 2020 presidential election.
Yeartie’s testimony is the first time a witness has publicly undercut Willis’ claim about the timing of her relationship with Wade. Yeartie described meeting Willis in college and developing a close friendship that resulted in Willis subletting a condo from her in April 2021. Yeartie would eventually take a job in Willis’ office, but resigned in 2022 amid internal acrimony, and the two have not spoken since, Yeartie testified.
The prosecutors had hoped to avoid having to testify about the details of their relationship, but Yeartie’s account prompted McAfee to rule that Wade had to take the stand, which he did in person just after Yeartie completed her testimony.
Yeartie said she knew of Willis’ relationship with Wade from observing interactions between the pair, including in social settings, where she said she witnessed “hugging, kissing, just affection.” She also said Willis discussed the relationship with her.
However, the prosecution suggested Yeartie had an ax to grind against Willis stemming from Yeartie’s departure from the job in the district attorney’s office.
On cross-examination by a prosecutor, Yeartie said she worked in the district attorney’s office and resigned after being told she would be fired if she did not quit. Yeartie was vague about the circumstances of her departure. “It was a spiral of things,” she said.
Before the testimony began, the prosecution railed against the effort to disqualify Willis, Wade and others.
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