Prosecutor Nathan Wade testified that he never talked about his romantic relationship with DA Fani Willis in social settings, after a witness earlier testified that she had observed the relationship.

"Did you discuss your personal relationship, your private personal romantic relationship, with Miss Willis in social settings?" defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant asked Wade.

"No, ma'am," Wade replied.

Merchant then asked if Wade ever discussed his relationship with Willis while around Robin Yeartie, the friend of Willis who testified earlier that Wade and Willis' relationship began prior to the start of the Trump election interference case.

Wade testified that he did not.

Wade said he and Willis are "private people" and said their relationship "wasn't a secret. It was just private. So not at all ... I wouldn't have discussed my relationship with Miss Yeartie or anyone else."

Addressing allegations that he paid for DA Fani Willis' travel when the two of them traveled together, prosecutor Nathan Wade testified that Willis often paid him back in cash or spent money on him in other ways so that expenses roughly "balanced out," insisting that Willis "carries her own weight."

"All of the vacations she took, she paid you cash?" defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant asked.

"Yes ma'am," Wade said.

The defense has accused Willis of improperly benefiting financially from the relationship, by paying Wade a salary that was then used to pay for their travels together.

Speaking more broadly, Wade insisted that throughout their entire relationship, Willis paid her own way, painting it as character trait of hers.

"If you've ever spent any time with Mrs. Willis you understand she's a very independent proud woman, so she's going to insist that she carries her own weight," he testified.

"It actually was a point of contention between the two of us," Wade said. "She was going to pay her own way."

Wade went through the various trips booked on his credit card, one by one, including trips to Napa Valley and Belize. In one instance, Wade testified it was actually Willis who paid for the "entire trip" -- despite the fact that it was on his credit card.

On the Napa trip, Wade testified that Willis paid for the excursions, "so the expenses sort of balances out." He said it was like any relationship: "In a relationship, you don't -- particularly men -- you don't go asking back," Wade said. "You're not keeping a ledger."

Prosecutor Nathan Wade, refuting earlier testimony claiming his relationship with DA Fani Willis started before she hired him on the election interference case case in November 2021, testified that the relationship started in 2022.

"When did your romantic relationship with Mrs. Willis begin?" defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant asked him.

"2022," Wade replied.

"When?" Merchant pressed.

"Early 2022," Wade responded.

"What's early?," Merchant asked.

"Around March," Wade said.

Wade was then asked about conversations he and Willis had around their first meeting in 2019. He testified that they spoke two or three times in 2019.

"She felt comfortable calling for advice," he testified.

He said the calls progressed and they spoke more frequently. He testified that in 2021, the discussions between him and Willis became "frequent."

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.

State attorney Adam Abbate said that allegations that DA Fani Willis financially benefited from her relationship with prosecutor Nathan Wade were "all speculation and conjecture" lodged in order to "harrass and honestly embarrass" her.

Abbate said Willis was subjected to irrelevant questioning on the witness stand that was intended "to again embarrass and harass the district attorney in a way that was very public, in a way that was to impugn her character as it relates to that line of questioning in front of the court, in front of anyone watching the proceedings."

But Judge Scott McAfee pressed the DA's office after they suggested Willis' alleged conflict was theoretical or speculative.

"Aren't we past the speculation and conjecture aspect of this, though?" McAfee asked, saying that "the core of the financial allegation was that there is a relationship, and that money has changed hands."

"I think it was conceded that that balance could run in the district attorney's favor -- is that contested?" the judge asked.

The DA's office responded that they did contest that, saying the costs paid by each party were "equal."

But the judge pushed back again, saying the bottom line remained: "It's no longer just a theory that money changed hands."

"It's no longer speculation or conjecture," the judge said.

Willis, seated at the prosecution table, appeared alert and highly engaged during Abbate's arguments, visibly nodding or shaking her head at points.

She at one point scribbled down a note and passed it to Abbate, during his presentation of arguments on behalf of the DA's office.

At the end of his arguments, Abbate mounted an impassioned plea for the judge to dismiss the defendants' claim that Willis sought to live a lavish lifestyle on the taxpayer dime -- citing her relatively humble accommodations during a visit to Napa Valley: a DoubleTree Hotel.

"Most people, when they go to Napa -- if they want to lavishly experience Napa -- stay at the Ritz Carlton, the Four Seasons, things of that nature -- not a DoubleTree. So the allegations and assertions that Miss Willis was living the lifestyle of the rich and the famous is a joke," he said. "An absolute joke."

Abbate added there was "no validity" to arguments that the speech Willis made at the church would prejudice a jury.

"For all the reasons before Your Honor, this motion should be denied because the legal requirements by that are required in order for the district attorney to be disqualified have not been satisfied," Abbate concluded.