Special prosecutor Nathan Wade, asked if he traveled with DA Fani Willis around the time prior to the Trump election interference case being launched, stated that he's "not recalling" that after being pushed to answer "yes" or "no."

When asked by the defense if he traveled with Willis in 2023 or 2022, Wade said he did -- but he gave a different answer when asked about 2021.

"Did you travel with her in 2021?" defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant asked.

"I'm not recalling any travel in 2021," Wade replied.

"It's not yes or no, you just don't remember?" Merchant pressed.

An attorney for the DA said during Merchant's questioning, "We're going pretty far field into divorce matters." But the judge let questioning continue.

Special prosecutor Nathan Wade is now on the stand.

Fulton County prosecutors made a motion to quash the subpoena for Wade to testify, but Judge Scott McAfee rejected the motion, saying the "evidence in front of the court at the moment" is that a witness testified that the relationship predated his hiring, which contradicts their court filing.

"I don't see a way around the relevance of his testimony," said the judge.

Trump's attorney Steve Sadow drilled down into the testimony from Former DA office employee Robin Yeartie that Willis told her repeatedly that she and Wade were in a relationship before he was hired in 2021.

"Told you that in the year of 2020?" Sadow asked.

"Yes," Yeartie said.

"In the year of 2021?" Sadow asked.

"Yes," Yeartie said.

"Are you certain that Mrs. Willis told you about the romantic relationship with Mr. Wade prior to November 1 of 2021?, Sadow asked.

"Yes," Yeartie said.

Yeartie also testified she saw them "hugging, kissing, just affection."

All before he was hired?

"Yes," Yeartie said.

Former DA office employee Robin Yeartie testified that Fani Willis and Nathan Wade began dating prior to the Trump election interference case -- contradicting the claim in the state's court filing that the relationship started after Wade was hired.

"You know their personal relationship began shortly after" they met at a conference in October 2019, attorney Merchant asked the witness.

The witness, who said she was a old friend of Willis, replied, "Yes."

Yeartie is testifying via Zoom after she didn't appear in the courtroom.

The state is objecting to questions from the defense seemingly at every chance they can, which is significantly slowing down the proceedings. The judge has remained patient, but Michael Roman's attorney Ashleigh Merchant appears to be growing frustrated with the state's strategy.

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.