Fani Willis friend tells hearing DA’s relationship with Wade began before he was hired
A friend of Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis testified just earlier in the Georgia hearing in the criminal election interference case against Donald Trump and co-defendants.
A former Fulton county district attorneyâs office employee, Robin Yeartie, testified that Willisâs personal relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade began before he was hired in the election interference case against Trump, the Associated Press reports.
Yeartieâs testimony directly contradicts Willisâs statement that her personal relationship with Wade didnât begin until after Wade was hired as special prosecutor in the case against Trump and others.
Willis hired outside lawyer Wade to help investigate whether Trump and his allies committed any crimes while trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. Wade has led the team prosecuting the case since an indictment was returned last August.
Willisâ removal would be a stunning development in the most sprawling of the four criminal cases against Trump. An additional delay would likely lessen the chance that a trial would be held before the November election. He is currently the frontrunner to win the Republican nomination for president.
New: Robin Yeartie, a college friend of Fani Willis, just tesified at an evidentiary hearing that Willis and Wade began dating shortly after a municipal conference in 2019. This contradicts what Wade said in an affidavit (he said they started a romantic relationship in 2022)
— Sam Levine (@srl) February 15, 2024
Key events
Donald Trump must be huddling with his legal team after the hearing in his hush money case in New York wrapped up, in which the judge threw out his attempt to have the case dismissed.
Meanwhile, what of Stormy Daniels, the porn movie actor and producer whom heâs accused of breaking laws to pay off, in a convoluted scheme that amounted to alleged falsification of business records, as he tried to shut her up during the 2016 election campaign, about an affair she maintains they had in the past, but he denies?
Sheâs posting on X/Twitter and Instagram about a documentary about her, Stormy, which is headlining at the South By South West (SXSW) festival next month.
Accepted into the SXSW film festival is absolutely mind boggling! What an honor for my story to be premiering alongside so many huge films opening night! pic.twitter.com/miZp3oafbi
— Stormy Daniels (@StormyDaniels) February 8, 2024
The case also involves a pay-off to Karen McDougal. You can read an archive article about her from the Guardianâs Maya Yang, here.
Sam Levine
As we await Donald Trumpâs departure from the court house in New York, in his hush money case, the hearing in his election interference case in Georgia is in full swing.
Thereâs already explosive testimony in the evidentiary hearing in Atlanta on whether district attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified from the criminal case against Trump and a host of co-defendants.
Robin Yeartie, a former friend of Willis, testified that she had âno doubtâ Willis and Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor in the case, were in a relationship before she hired him to work on the Trump case. Thatâs significant because Wade said in an affidavit to the court their relationship only began after he was hired.
Anna Cross, a lawyer for Willis, sought to uncercut Yeartieâs testimony. She noted that Yeartie had resigned from the district attorneyâs office in 2022 and suggested she had a falling out with Willis. Cross suggested that Willis told Yeartie she was going to be fired for poor performance.
Yeartie also said on the stand that she had no knowledge of Willis and Wade living together, paying for each otherâs expenses, or going on vacation together. That information is critical because it could establish whether their relationship meant there was an actual substantial conflict for Willis.
Wade is currently on the stand. More shortly.
All eyes are now on the classically dreary and echoing corridor outside the court room in the state court house in lower Manhattan, as we await Donald Trumpâs departure.
Police and court security officers are milling around and there is a small enclosure formed of crowd barricades to corral Trump in safety if he chooses to stop and address the assembled media.
He did so on the way in, decrying the hush money case against him as illegitimate and accusing the district attorney, Alvin Bragg, of harboring political plants in his office.
In classic style Trump, who has been criminally charged in two election interference cases, one federal and one state in Georgia, bounced that phrase back at the public, labeling his prosecution in New York âelection interferenceâ by the Democrats.
Weâll have all the latest from the hearing in the Georgia state court case shortly.
The hearing in Donald Trumpâs hush money criminal case in New York has wrapped up.
Judge Juan Merchan refused to dismiss the case, as Trump has been requesting.
The trial is set to go ahead on March 25, the first of the four criminal cases against Trump.
The former president has denied all the charges.
In the New York case, Trump was charged last April with 34 counts related to the alleged falsification of business records as part of a purported scheme to cover up extramarital affairs.
This conspiracy, in turn, was meant to influence the 2016 election, prosecutors say.
Weâll see if Trump says anything in the corridor outside the court, on his way out.
Fani Willis friend tells hearing DA’s relationship with Wade began before he was hired
A friend of Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis testified just earlier in the Georgia hearing in the criminal election interference case against Donald Trump and co-defendants.
A former Fulton county district attorneyâs office employee, Robin Yeartie, testified that Willisâs personal relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade began before he was hired in the election interference case against Trump, the Associated Press reports.
Yeartieâs testimony directly contradicts Willisâs statement that her personal relationship with Wade didnât begin until after Wade was hired as special prosecutor in the case against Trump and others.
Willis hired outside lawyer Wade to help investigate whether Trump and his allies committed any crimes while trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. Wade has led the team prosecuting the case since an indictment was returned last August.
Willisâ removal would be a stunning development in the most sprawling of the four criminal cases against Trump. An additional delay would likely lessen the chance that a trial would be held before the November election. He is currently the frontrunner to win the Republican nomination for president.
New: Robin Yeartie, a college friend of Fani Willis, just tesified at an evidentiary hearing that Willis and Wade began dating shortly after a municipal conference in 2019. This contradicts what Wade said in an affidavit (he said they started a romantic relationship in 2022)
— Sam Levine (@srl) February 15, 2024
Georgia prosecutor Nathan Wade takes stand at hearing
Special prosecutor Nathan Wade has taken the stand in the Georgia hearing. He is wearing a pale grey suit and is being asked about his divorce from his wife.
This is relevant in relation to his romantic relationship with his boss, Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis.
The two are leading the prosecution in the election interference state criminal case against Donald Trump and a slew of co-defendants.
Willis is expected to take the stand later.
Fani Willis will be called to the stand in hearing in Georgia Trump case
Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis is expected to be called to the stand in court in Atlanta, in the misconduct hearing against her and special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Weâre not sure when that will happen. Right now, witnesses have been taking the stand, including one now testifying that Willis and Wade began their romantic relationship in 2019, long before they were leading the team prosecuting Donald Trump for charges relating to election interference and racketeering.
One of Trumpâs co-defendants in the Georgia case is seeking to have Willis and Wade thrown off the case, which would turn the whole thing upside down. Defendant Michael Roman claims their romantic relationship and related expenditure of public funds is a conflict of interest.
Judge Scott MacAfee is presiding. This is the first day of what is expected to be a two-day hearing.
Meanwhile, in New York it looks like the hearing in Trumpâs hush money case in front of Judge Juan Merchan is wrapping up shortly.
Victoria Bekiempis
Unlike other recent proceedings, including the writer E Jean Carrollâs most recent defamation case, Trump is behaving inside the courtroom in New York today.
Granted, this proceeding is just 50 minutes in and moving quickly, and there isnât a jury to perform in front of, but Trump seems mostly calm.
Heâs listening to the proceedings and has whispered briefly to his attorney. The hearing is ongoing, so only time will tell whether Trump has an in-courtroom outburst or storms off.
Victoria Bekiempis
Donald Trumpâs legal team is continuing to argue in court in New York that itâs not fair to expect the former president to stand trial in March because itâs still in the thick of the 2024 presidential election.
Trump is ahead of rival Nikki Haley in his pursuit of the Republican nomination for the White House in November.
Trumpâs lawyer Todd Blanche has been pushing in court to delay the trial, scheduled for March 25.
âAs the court is aware, we are in the middle of primary season,â Blanche said, explaining, there are two key time periods in any election, especially one for president of the United States.
One is primary season and the other is general election season; he noted there are 27 primaries in March.
âIt is completely election interference to say: âYou are going to sit in this courtroom in Manhattan when there is no reason for itâ,â Blanche said. âWhat about his rights?â
The hearing in New York that Trump is attending, in the hush money case, is cracking along. There is no live feed to the outside world so we rely on reporters in the court room, who are disseminating highlights.
Meanwhile, the hearing in the election interference case in Georgia is expected to last two days and has rows of lawyers attending and will call multiple witnesses, so is getting underway at what the general public would consider a snailâs pace.
For the Guardian in New York, Victoria Bekiempis sends this dispatch from the court room:
While the trial date [March 25} seemed open and shut for Judge Juan Merchan, Trumpâs team nevertheless fought his scheduling decision, claiming it violated Trumpâs rights.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche pointed to the ex-presidentâs classified documents case in Florida, which is expected to start in May. Trump couldnât possibly prepare for that trial, Blanche argued, if heâs present for the Manhattan case.
âThat is an constitutional violation in our view, judge,â Blanche said of Trump being unable to prepare for his defense, later saying, âItâs truly an impossible position for anyone to be in.â
