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Former President Donald Trump's lawyers are asking Judge Scott McAfee to review new cell phone evidence as McAfee weighs whether or not to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Nathan Wade from Trump's election interference case in Georgia.
Trump's legal team filed a supplemental brief to McAfee on Friday, asking him to review new information related to the misconduct allegations surrounding Willis. The district attorney has come under fire for her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Wade, whom she hired to help prosecute Trump and his allies in the RICO case.
Earlier this month, McAfee heard Trump co-defendant Michael Roman's arguments seeking to disqualify Willis from the case and to have the charges against him thrown out. The judge signaled that it's "possible" she could be disqualified if the facts that were presented prove to be true.
One of the proposed exhibits that Trump's attorneys submitted includes an affidavit from a private investigator who analyzed Wade's cell phone location data.
The investigator said the phone data that he reviewed showed that in 2021, Wade twice arrived at Willis' home late at night and left in the early morning hours, once in September and the other in November. The couple has testified that they did not begin dating until 2022 after Willis hired Wade in the Trump case.
"This conservative analysis using the above referenced modality revealed a minimum of 35 occasions when Mr. Wade's phone connected for an extended period to either one of those towers in closest proximity to the Dogwood address based upon associated data use, voice calls or text messages," criminal defense investigator Charles Mittelstadt wrote.
During the hearing on the disqualification matter, Robin Bryant Yeartie, a former employee of the district attorney's office and friend of Willis, testified that Willis and Wade began a romantic relationship after meeting at a conference in late 2019, contradicting the claims made by the couple. Her testimony came after McAfee denied a motion from Willis to quash the motion to subpoena her former employee.
Terrence Bradley, a friend and former law partner of Wade, also testified during the hearing, but he repeatedly invoked attorney-client privileges on the stand, prompting the judge to agree to meet him in a closed-door meeting. Bradley previously represented Wade in his divorce proceedings from his ex-wife.
Atlanta-based defense lawyer Noah Pines previously told Newsweek that he doesn't expect Willis to be disqualified based on what he's seen in the case so far. But that opinion could change "if additional evidence is presented" to McAfee in the private meeting with Bradley.
Update 02/23/24, 11:14 a.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information.
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek senior reporter based in New York City. She has covered U.S. politics and culture extensively. ... Read more