Watch the livestream of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis disqualification hearing happening now in Atlanta.
In bombshell testimony on Thursday, Willis’s former friend, Robin Yeartie, testified under oath and confirmed that Willis and special counsel Nathan Wade began dating in 2019.
Yeartie is a former employee of the DA’s office. She testified via closed circuit TV (CCTV).
Willis’ attorney objected after Yeartie confirmed that Willis and Wade met in October 2019 at a judicial conference.
Yertie confirmed that Willis and Wade’s relationship began “shortly after” they met at the conference in late 2019.
She said she had “no doubt” that they were in a romantic relationship in 2019.
Wade claimed in his interrogatories in 2023 that he and Willis became romantic in 2022.
Yeartie also clarified that she never lived with Willis. She said Willis took over the lease of her Atlanta area condo in 2021.
When defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant asked Yeartie if Willis took over the lease to move “away from her father,” Yeartie responded “yes.”
Trump’s Georgia attorney, Steve Sadow, then asked Yeartie about her knowledge of the relationship between Willis and Wade.
Yeartie said she saw them kissing and hugging in social settings.
The evidentiary hearing began on Thursday morning, Feb. 15, before Superior Court Judge Scott F. McAfee.
According to reports, Judge McAfee previously worked for Willis for four years.
Last week, Judge McAfee denied Willis’ request to cancel the hearing.
“Because I think it’s possible that the facts alleged by the defendant could result in disqualification, I think an evidentiary hearing must occur to establish the record on those core allegations,” he wrote.
The judge will decide whether Willis used taxpayer dollars to finance her romantic relationship with her top prosecutor, Nathan Wade.
[Click video to watch replay]
Both Willis and Wade admitted they were involved in a “personal relationship” which they claim began in 2022 – after he was appointed special prosecutor in November 2021.
Wade’s former law partner, Terrance Bradley also testified on Thursday.
Bradley said he represented Willis as his divorce attorney at one point.
Bradley complained on the witness stand that he didn’t want to be there in the courtroom.
He said he couldn’t discuss what he knew about Wade and Willis’ relationship due to attorney-client privilege.
Merchant alleges that Wade told Bradley of his friendship with Willis.
Wade filed for divorce from his wife the day after Willis appointed him to prosecute Trump.
Merchant claims Bradley also has personal knowledge that Wade and Willis stayed together at her Hapeville home until Willis’ father moved into the property in 2020.
Merchant also alleges that Willis and Wade then began staying together at a leased “safe house.”
She says they lived at both properties together.
Fulton County taxpayers paid Wade’s law firm nearly $1 million for his work on Trump’s RICO case between 2022 and 2023.
Financial documents obtained by Merchant shows Wade spent thousands of dollars on trips to Aruba, Miami, and Napa Valley for himself and Willis.
The trips include travel to the Bahamas at the end of 2022 and a March 2023 trip to Belize.
Wade allegedly spent nearly $3,700 for flights, the cruise, jeep rental and other expenses for the Bahamas trip.
Trump and at least 9 co-defendants asked the judge to toss out the RICO case. But legal experts say that’s not likely to happen.
