Fulton County hearing: Trump case hangs in balance as judge mulls DA disqualification

Earlier, the defense attorney for ex-DOJ official Jeffrey Clark told the judge that the DA's office has put an "irreparable stain" on the case and are now a "global laughingstock."

"Think of the message that would be sent if they were not disqualified," attorney Harry MacDougald told the judge. "If this is tolerated, we'll get more of it. This office is a global laughingstock because of their conduct. They should be disqualified and the case should be dismissed."

MacDougald argued that Willis has six different conflicts of interest in the case, "any one of which warrants disqualification." He alleged the conflicts include a financial conflict, the speech at the church, and her "pattern of deceit and concealment," among others.

"The problem here is that the DA cannot distinguish between her personal interests and ambitions on the one hand, and her public duties as a prosecutor on the other," MacDougald said. "And apparently neither can anyone else in their office."

Richard Rice, the attorney for Trump co-defendant Robert Cheeley, also argued that the volume of alleged texts and calls between Willis and Wade proves their romantic relationship began prior to Wade receiving his job with the DA office.

DA Fani Willis engaged in a "calculated plan ... to prejudice the defendants in this case in the minds of the jurors" when she defended herself and Nathan Wade during a speech at an Atlanta-area church in January, according to Craig Gillen, an attorney for defendant David Schafer.

During her remarks at the church, Willis repeatedly referred to herself as "flawed" and "imperfect" -- but did not directly acknowledge her relationship with Wade.

Gillen argued that her "deflection" strategy at the church merits disqualification because it could improperly "inject" race into the case, which might compromise the impartiality of the prospective jury pool.

"She chose to play the race card and the God card … to deflect away from the allegations" in the motion for disqualification, Gillen said. "She chose to inject race into the minds of the listeners."

Judge McAfee initially appeared skeptical of this argument, asking Gillen directly whether he could cite other instances in Georgia where a prosecutor had been dismissed based on their public commentary on a case.

"Thank goodness it doesn't happen very often," Gillen replied. "Sadly, it's already happened here."

"Prosecutors don't act like this, lawyers don't act like this … and they need to go," Gillen said.

Donald Trump's attorney in his closing arguments told the judge that DA Fani Willis and prosecutor Nathan Wade were "not truthful" when they testified under oath about the timing of their relationship, urging the judge to use that to disqualify her from the case.

"I suggest to you that the testimony that Mr. Wade gave and Mrs. Willis gave ... that that brought forth a true concern about their truthfulness," said Trump's attorney, Steve Sadow.

Sadow told the judge he doesn't need to find that Willis and Wade lied on the stand in order to disqualify them, but that he only needs to find that a "legitimate concern," telling the judge, "That's enough."

The judge pressed Trump's attorney on what the "limiting" area of that conclusion would be, noting the DA signs every single indictment her office brings.

"Does that mean she would be off every case?" the judge asked regarding Sadow's allegations about her truthfulness. "How does that not spill over into every case the district attorney brings?"

Sadow pointed to the testimony of witnesses Robin Yeartie, and even the testimony of Terrance Bradley, saying Bradley did "everything he could possibly do to evade answering questions" because he knew if he did, the judge would be able to find "that both Willis and Wade lied" about when the relationship started.

McAfee asked Sadow what to make of Bradley's testimony, noting if he takes the view that Bradley's testimony was untruthful, "what's left standing?"

"In these text messages, is it ever definitely shown how he knew this, and whether he did know it?" the judge asked, referring to Bradleys' text messages, read in court, in which he previously told defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant that Willis and Wade's relationship began long before Wade was hired -- before Bradley testified earlier this week that any past statements he made to that effect were "speculation on my part."

Former President Trump's attorney Steve Sadow, in the first portion of his closing argument, focusing on the speech DA Fani Willis gave at Big Bethel AME Church in January, which he claimed was "a calculated determination by Ms. Willis to prejudice" a prospective jury against the defendants.

"I appointed three special counselors," Willis said in her speech, noting that Wade was the only Black one. "Isn't it them playing the race card when they only question one?"

"Willis took it upon herself to go to to a historic black church in Atlanta, having not responded at all, to the motion of Miss Merchant's client Roman ... it was a calculated determination by Miss Willis to prejudice the defendants and their counsel," Sadow argued to the court.

Sadow argued that the speech represented an "ethical violation," saying that Willis' comments invoking "race and religion" significantly heightened public condemnation of the defendant.

"Can you think of anything more that would heighten public condemnation of the defendant than alleging that defense counsel and the defendants were making their motion based on race and religion? That's just as bad as it gets in Fulton County," Sadow said.

"She could have said the facts of the matter. Instead, she misstated what the situation was took advantage of the opportunity," he argued.