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

The defense wants to disqualify DA Fani Willis in Trump's Georgia election case.

Following three days of testimony plus closing arguments, Scott McAfee, the judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's Georgia election interference case, is weighing motions to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, primarily over accusations from Trump co-defendant Michael Roman that she benefited financially from a "personal, romantic relationship" with prosecutor Nathan Wade, who she hired for the case.

Willis and Wade, in a court filing, admitted to the relationship but said it "does not amount to a disqualifying conflict of interest" and that the relationship "has never involved direct or indirect financial benefit to District Attorney Willis."


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Willis does not take stand on Day 2 of hearing

After a dramatic and heated Day 1, DA Fani Willis is not taking the stand for Day 2 of the hearing.

The state told the court they have no further questions for the district attorney.

Multiple attorneys for defendants in the case, including Trump's attorney Steve Sadow and Michael Roman's attorney Ashleigh Merchant, are in the courtroom, but Willis is not present.

Judge Scott McAfee said his goal is to finish up the evidentiary hearing today.


Court adjourns, Willis will be back on stand Friday

DA Fani Willis stepped off the stand for the day following more than two hours of highly charged testimony.

The DA is scheduled to be back on the stand tomorrow morning for the hearing's second day.

Judge McAfee reviewed other motions for Day 2, then adjourned the hearing until Friday.

Willis did not respond to questions from ABC News after leaving the courtroom.


Willis questioned by lawyers for other co-defendants

After Trump attorney Steve Sadow wrapped up his questioning of DA Fani Willis, the attorneys for other co-defendants got their chance -- but the judge appeared to grow frustrated as defense attorneys attempted to find new lines of questioning.

Allyn Stockton, representing co-defendant Rudy Giuliani, asked Willis about contracts given to Wade's law partners.

"Did Wade's law partners, Bradley and Campbell, also get contracts with the DA's office?" Stockton asked.

"Yes but only for a short time after I first became DA. Then I let them go when my office was properly staffed," she replied.

Harry MacDougald, representing co-defendant Jeffrey Clark, briefly questioned Willis about her financial disclosure form before the judge told him to sit down.

"I don't believe she answered that question, Your Honor," MacDougald said.

"She answered as to specific individual gifts," Judge McAfee, appearing more frustrated, responded. "And you're not listening to my answer either. So we're done."


Willis says she didn't consider relationship romantic before hiring

Pressed further by Trump attorney Steve Sadow, DA Fani Willis testified regarding prosecutor Nathan Wade that she did "not consider our relationship to have become romantic until 2022."

"I don't consider my relationship to be romantic with him before that," she said of Wade's hiring.

Sadow suggested that Wade and Willis have not been truthful about the timing.

When he asked Willis who she told about the relationship, Sadow suggested her "failure" to notify other members of team suggests that the relationship "was not as its been characterized to the court" and "that it started earlier than what they say."

Willis said her and Wade were friends since at least 2020.

"I want to be clear, because my credibility is being evaluated," she said.


Attorney, citing Willis' church speech, says she 'needs to go'

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.