Damning texts show witness' role to disqualify district attorney from Trump case
Damning texts have revealed a key witness' role in a push to disqualify District Attorney Fani Willis from the Georgia election case against Donald Trump.
Ms Willis and Nathan Wade, the prosecutor she hired to lead the election interference case against the former president and his aides, shared a staggering 431 text messages that back up claims the pair engaged in an "improper romantic relationship". Terrence Bradley testified on Tuesday for over two hours about the romantic relationship between Ms Willis and Mr Wade, who was Mr Bradley's former client and law partner.
Michael Roman is seeking for 53-year-old Ms Willis to be disqualified over what they deemed as an "improper relationship." The messages were revealed by The Megyn Kelly Show on Wednesday and show Ashleigh Merchant, Mr Roman's lawyer, asking Mr Bradley for information on the affair.
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Terrence Bradley gave evidence to the court (BRYNN ANDERSON/POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)She even asks on September 18 if she can get an affidavit, to which Mr Bradley says: "No... no one would freely burn that bridge." She also asked if Mr Wade's law partner, Christopher Campbell, would admit to the affair if asked under oath.
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"No," Mr Bradley replies. "He knows but won't admit it." A string of messages were sent on January 5, before Merchant filed a motion that the entire Fulton County DA's Office be disqualified. "
"I assume you knew about the trips", Mr Bradley was told. Ms Willis has denied there was anything improper about their relationship.
The former president has exploited the revelation of the relationship (AFP via Getty Images)The defence lawyers said that Ms Willis benefitted financially by hiring Mr Wade because he paid for trips they took together with the money he earned from the case. Ms Willis and Mr Wade both testified they split the cost of travel equally.
"Doesn't surprise me... they took many trips to Florida. Texas. California," said Mr Bradley, after Ms Merchant clarified the trips happened as recently as last summer in "May or June." During further text messages, Mr Bradley and Ms Merchant even discussed subpoenaing Ms Willis’s children to confirm the existence of a romantic relationship between Ms Willis and Mr Wade.
The text messages are crucial as the law says “disqualification can occur if evidence is produced demonstrating an actual conflict or the appearance of one,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said during a hearing. Because he believes “it’s possible that the facts alleged by the defendant could result in a disqualification, I think an evidentiary hearing must occur to establish the record on those core allegations."
As he makes another run for the White House and faces three other criminal prosecutions, Donald Trump has exploited the revelation of the relationship, repeatedly referring to Mr Wade as Ms Willis’ “lover” or “boyfriend” to try to cast doubt on Ms Willis’ motivations and the legitimacy of the case. Other Republicans have piled on, using the claims to justify calls for investigations into or sanctions against Ms Willis, an elected Democrat who’s up for reelection this year.
The original motion was filed by former Trump campaign staffer and onetime White House aide Michael Roman, but Trump and several other co-defendants have joined with motions of their own. Mr Roman’s motion says Ms Willis and Mr Wade were romantically involved when she hired him in November 2021 to manage an investigation into whether Trump and others committed any crimes as they tried to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia. That investigation led to the indictment in August of Trump and 18 others who are accused of participating in a sprawling illegal scheme to keep Trump in office.
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