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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will testify for a second day on Friday about her relationship with Donald Trump prosecutor, Nathan Wade.
It follows Willis' combative and sometimes hostile testimony on Thursday, when she strongly denied defense attorneys' accusations that she has a conflict of interest in the Trump case.
On Friday, Willis will likely be asked for details of why she hired Wade, who is leading the prosecution against Trump for alleged interference in the 2020 presidential election.
Writing in her Civil Discourse blog, former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance said that unless the defense attorneys have more real evidence to offer on Friday, "this smacks of persecution of the prosecutor."
Vance is a liberal-leaning legal analyst who has been a frequent critic of Donald Trump.
No decisions are expected in the case on Friday.
"I'm not ruling on any of this tomorrow," Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee said on Thursday. "This is something I'm going to be taking under advisement on all aspects."
McAfee is holding the second day of hearings as he considers 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.
The motion to have Willis removed was filed by a lawyer for Roman, who is a former Trump campaign staffer and White House aide. Trump and several other co-defendants have filed their own motions seeking Willis' removal.
If they succeed, it would likely delay the trial by many months.
Roman's motion states that Willis was in a relationship with Wade when she hired him in November 2021 to oversee the investigation into Trump's alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in Georgia.
Willis admitted to having a "personal relationship" with Wade but argued that it was not grounds to disqualify either from Trump's case.
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.
While facing questions from Roman's attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, Willis repeatedly told the defense that she was lying about the details of her relationship with Wade.
"It seems today that a lawyer writes a lie and then it's printed for all of the world to see," Willis said about Merchant from the witness stand.
Roman's argument, which is being represented by Merchant, is that the prosecutors' relationship began before Wade was hired by Willis to lead Trump's case, dating all the way back to October 2019.
"You're confused. You think I'm on trial," Willis told Merchant while testifying on Thursday.
"[The defendants] are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. I'm not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial."
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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