Fani Willis' Father Reveals When He Met Nathan Wade

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis's father, John Floyd, revealed when he first met Nathan Wade during his testimony in a hearing into whether Willis would be disqualified from prosecuting former President Donald Trump in his Georgia election interference case.

"I did not meet Nathan Wade until 2023, about a year ago, when a reporter by the name of Isikoff interviewed me. That's the first time I met him," Floyd said.

The Context

Attorneys representing Michael Roman, a co-defendant in the case, are seeking to disqualify Willis from the Trump election interference case over her relationship with Wade, an attorney she brought onto the prosecution.

Defense lawyers alleged the pair benefited financially from taxpayers' money.

Willis admitted to having a personal relationship with Wade but has argued it is not grounds to disqualify her from the Trump case. She has denied all wrongdoing.

What We Know

During the hearing, Floyd answered questions about when he first made Wade. The timeline of when the relationship between Willis and Wade began has emerged as a key issue during the hearing.

Wade has said the relationship started in 2022, However, Willis' former friend and former DA's office employee, Robin Bryant-Yeartie, testified Thursday that she believes the relationship began after Wade and Wilis met at a conference in 2019, years earlier than Wade initially disclosed.

Floyd said he did not formally meet Wade while living with Willis in her Fulton County home in 2019 or 2020. He noted he may have had an exchange during Willis' swearing in 2021.

"Mr. Wade said that he remembers seeing me, and I do remember some banter. I'm a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, and there's kind of this thing that goes on between fraternities. And Mr. Wade is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, so I do remember that there was some kind of banter when my daughter was sworn in to be district attorney between me and a couple of guys. He says he remembers me. I don't remember him," he said.

Willis' investigation into the former president focused on his call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump asked him to find enough votes to tilt the 2020 election in his favor, as well as an alleged plot to submit a false slate of pro-Trump electors to the Electoral College. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Views

Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Newsweek on Friday that he believes Floyd's testimony may benefit Willis.

"Floyd's testimony helped Willis, especially the timeline and when her romantic relationship with Willis started. Floyd also backed Willis' story about keeping cash," Rahmani said.

"I think the prosecution realized that Willis presented poorly on the stand yesterday," he continued. "That's what they put on other witnesses like Floyd and former Georgie Governor Roy Barnes to corroborate Willis and Wade's testimony."

Conservative attorney Jonathan Turley described Floyd as a "very strong witness for his daughter," praising his "great demeanor" and "great memory" in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Tamar Hallerman, a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, wrote on X: "This is important testimony for the DA's team because Floyd lived with Willis beginning in 2019 through early 2021ish, when he stayed in Willis' house even after she moved out due to threats."

What's Next

Later in the day, the court is expected to hear testimony today from Terrence Bradley, Wade's business partner, who was also his divorce attorney. Fulton County special prosecutor Anna Cross, who is representing the county district attorney's office, is also expected to call witnesses.

Once the hearing concludes, McAfee will determine whether Willis will be removed from the Georgia case against Trump and the co-defendants. If she is, the case would not be dismissed. Instead, another district attorney or state Attorney General Christopher Carr, a Republican, could take over the prosecution.

Update 2/16/24, 12:14 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.

Update 2/16/24 12:53 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.