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A witness who claims that Fani Willis began her relationship with a prosecutor in 2019 has major credibility issues, a former federal prosecutor has said.
Joyce Vance was reacting to the testimony of Robin Yeartie, a former friend of Willis, who claimed that the relationship began long before the Atlanta district attorney assigned prosecutor Nathan Wade to the Donald Trump election fraud case in Georgia.
If Yeartie is correct, that would mean that Willis placed Wade on the high-profile and high-paying Trump case while in a relationship with him.
Writing on her Civil Discourse blog, Vance said that, as Yeartie was forced to leave Willis' office or be fired, her testimony has credibility problems.
Vance is a liberal-leaning attorney who has been an outspoken critic of Donald Trump. Willis is due to put Trump on trial in August for interfering in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Willis and Yeartie testified on Thursday as a judge heard arguments on whether Willis' romantic relationship with Wade—the lead prosecutor on Trump's case in Georgia—created a conflict of interest. Defense lawyers representing Michael Roman, Trump's co-defendant, claim that Willis and Wade's relationship started earlier than the timeline that the prosecutors have provided to the court.
Willis admitted to having a "personal relationship" with Wade but argued that it was not grounds to disqualify either from Trump's case.
Vance noted that Yeartie is no longer friends with Willis after being forced to leave the DA's office.
"Although a witness who claimed to be a close friend of Willis testified it began before Willis hired Wade, the witness turned out to be someone who resigned from the DA's office in lieu of being fired because of performance issues. That's a witness with some real credibility problems unless they're corroborated, and this witness wasn't," Vance wrote.
In her testimony, Yeartie said that she had been "best friends" with Willis after they met in college. Yeartie later worked for Willis when the latter district attorney in Fulton County, Atlanta.
Yeartie testified that she last spoke with Willis in March 2022, after leaving the Fulton County district attorney's office due to a "situation" in which she was told she could resign or be fired. The incident ended her friendship with Willis, The Hill political news site reported on Thursday.
In her testimony, Yeartie said Willis began a "romantic relationship with Wade in 2019 — three years prior to when Willis and Wade said the relationship began.
Yeartie said the relationship began shortly after a municipal court conference in October 2019 and that Willis and Wade stayed in a relationship until 2022.
"You have no doubt that their romantic relationship was in effect from 2019 until the last time you spoke with her?" defense lawyer Ashleigh Merchant asked, according to The Hill.
"No doubt," Yeartie replied.
Newsweek sought email comment from Willis' office on Friday.
Willis indicted Trump and 18 other defendants of attempting to overturn President Joe Biden's win in Georgia in 2020.
The former president has pleaded not guilty to all 13 charges against him and said the case is politically motivated.
Four of the other 18 defendants have taken a plea deal and have agreed to testify for the prosecution if required.
About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more