DA Fani Willis began her testimony by slamming the allegations against her, as well as co-defendant Mike Roman's attorney, and the news media for its coverage.

"I've been very anxious to have this conversation with you today," Willis said almost immediately. She also said, "I've been in the office pacing."

Willis plainly accused Roman's attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, of lying, and assailed the media.

"It seems today, a lawyer writes a lie and then it's printed to all the world to see," Willis said.

Willis' remarks drew objection from Trump's attorney Steve Sadow.

"I object to the speech making," Sadow said, but Willis kept going.

"It's highly offensive when someone lies on you," Willis said.

As attorneys were arguing over DA Fani Willis' testimony, Willis surprised the court by walking into the courtroom unannounced, and prosecutors withdrew their motion to quash the subpoena for her testimony.

The DA then took the stand.

Under questioning from an attorney with the DA's office, prosecutor Nathan Wade testified that his income decreased after signing on to work with Fulton County, and that he had to work "so many hours" that he couldn't get paid for.

"In 2022, your estimated monthly income at that time was $14,000 a month?" special prosecutor Anna Cross asked.

"Yes," Wade replied.

"In 2023, what did that number come to?" asked Cross.

"$9,500," Wade said.

When asked about the hours Wade worked that he didn't get paid for due to a cap, because of a cap, Wade said there were "so many hours" that he worked that he couldn't get paid for.

"This invoice makes me cry," Wade said. "There's so many hours here that I worked that I couldn't I couldn't get paid for."

"This is not the type of job that you can walk away from just because you're not getting paid for it," Wade said.

Trump's attorney Steve Sadow asked Wade about visiting Willis' Atlanta-area condo before November 2021, which would have been prior to his getting a contract with the DA office.

"Did you and Ms. Willis go to the Hapeville condo prior to Nov. 1, 2021?" Sadow asked.

"Yes," said Wade, who said he "maybe went to talk about a document that I received."

Sadow then asked Wade if phone records showed Wade made calls from Willis' condo prior to November 2021 ,would they be wrong.

"Yes sir," Wade replied.

Asked what other reasons phone records would show him making calls from that area if they were not made from Willis' apartment, Wade pointed to the airport near Hapeville.

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.