Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County, was allegedly romantically involved for years with a special prosecutor she later hired to work on her case against President Donald Trump, according to the witness who testified on Thursday.
In defiance of a sworn affidavit Wade wrote earlier this month claiming the relationship started after Willis hired him, Robin Yeartie claimed to be aware of the romantic relationship and to have seen physical affection between the two starting “soon after” the pair met in 2019. In November 2021, Willis hired Wade to work on the Trump case.
A judge held a crucial hearing to determine whether Willis had an undisclosed conflict of interest in the case, which would have disqualified her, and Yeartie made her comments during that hearing.
A bombshell court document submitted by co-defendant Mike Roman made the accusation public last month. He claimed that because Willis had been secretly dating Wade while paying Wade hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds to work on the Trump case, he had personally benefited from appointing Wade to the case. Roman claimed that the relationship included hotel stays, cruises, meals, and vacations.
Willis was compelled to respond to the charge and acknowledged dating Wade in a court filing. She argued that the couple split expenses equally and that it had no bearing on the case. Wade also informed the court in a sworn affidavit. The relationship started in 2022, he noted in the affidavit.
On Thursday, Ashleigh Merchant, Roman's attorney, presided over the questioning. Due to the alleged conflict of interest, Roman and other co-defendants, including Trump, are requesting that the case be dropped or at the very least that Willis ‘office be barred from participating.
When Yeartie resigned from the district attorney's office in March 2022 due to a job performance issue, Merchant proved during the interrogation that they had been close friends since the early 1990s.
Yeartie claimed that despite being aware of the romantic relationship, she was unaware of Willis and Wade's shared residence. In a hearing earlier this week, the merchant claimed to have evidence that refuted Wade's sworn assertions about the beginning of his relationship with Willis and his assertion that they never lived together.
Wade was then questioned by Merchant after appearing on Thursday under a subpoena following unsuccessful attempts by state attorneys to suppress it. Wade was questioned by the merchant about the inconsistencies in his claims and the alleged involvement of Willis in particular payments.
