District attorney and lawyer in Georgia Trump election interference case take the stand to deny conflict of interest
The district attorney and the lawyer prosecuting Donald Trump for allegedly trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat in Georgia have taken the witness stand – denying claims their romantic relationship presents a financial conflict of interest.
Trump and some of his 14 co-defendants argue Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified from the prosecution due to her relationship with lawyer Nathan Wade.
The pair went on trips together – with Mr Wade booking them while he was being paid by Ms Willis’ office.
Mr Wade and Ms Willis have testified that their relationship, which is said to have come to an end last summer, began in early 2022 – months after the district attorney appointed the lawyer in November 2021.
However, Robin Yeartie, a former friend and employee of Ms Willis, contradicted the timeline and said the pair began dating shortly after they met in 2019.
Taking the witness stand, Ms Willis angrily pushed back against what she described as “lies” about her relationship with Mr Wade.
She said: “Do you think I’m on trial? These people 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.”
Ashleigh Merchant, an attorney representing Trump co-defendant Michael Roman, asked Ms Willis about where the money came from that she gave to Mr Wade to reimburse him for travel.
“I am sure that the source of the money is always the work, sweat and tears of me,” Ms Willis said.
Pic: AP
‘She demanded to pay her own way’
When questioned, Ms Willis also explained she didn’t pay with cash from bank withdrawals because she keeps money in her home. She said her father had told her to always keep six months of money in the house.
Ms Willis also said that she and Mr Wade never lived together despite court filings that were submitted that stated otherwise.
“It’s certainly a lie that he lived with me,” Ms Willis said.
If the district attorney were to be disqualified, it could lead to a new district attorney being appointed who could either proceed with the charges against Trump and his co-defendants or drop the case altogether.
Since the allegations of an inappropriate relationship surfaced, Trump has used them to try to cast doubt on the legitimacy of Ms Willis’ case against him.
Other Republicans have called for an investigation into the district attorney, a Democrat who’s up for re-election this year.
During personal and uncomfortable testimony that spanned hours, Mr Wade admitted to having sex with Ms Willis during his separation from his estranged wife.
“There is nothing secret or salacious about having a private life,” he said. “Nothing.”
Nathan Wade testifies in court on Thursday. Pic: AP
Friend’s evidence questions when relationship started
Mr Wade has testified that he booked trips with Ms Willis to California, Belize and Aruba while working for her office.
However, he maintains Ms Willis either reimbursed him in cash or covered other expenses.
“She was very emphatic and adamant about this independent, strong woman thing so she demanded that she paid her own way,” Mr Wade said.
Mr Wade said the relationship ended last summer, but that he remains good friends with Ms Willis. He added that they were “probably closer than ever because of these attacks”.
Ms Merchant has described the relationship as a conflict of interest that should disqualify Ms Willis – and her entire office – from the case.
She claims Ms Willis personally profited from the relationship, paying Mr Wade more than $650,000 (£516,000) for his work and then benefiting when he used his earnings to pay for the trips they went on together.
The hearing, which will continue on Friday, will determine whether Ms Willis’ office should be disqualified from prosecuting the election case.
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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks at a press conference next to prosecutor Nathan Wade in November 2023. Pic: Reuters
Claims dismissed as ‘fantastical speculation’
The district attorney’s office has blasted the disqualification effort as a publicity stunt based on “fantastical theories and rank speculation”.
In a court filing earlier this month, Ms Willis’ office insisted that she has no financial or personal conflict of interest and that there are no grounds to dismiss the case or to remove her from the prosecution.
The Georgia case is one of four criminal prosecutions that Trump is facing as he closes in on securing the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the November election.
Trump has long presented the Georgia prosecution, and others he faces, as politically motivated attempts to prevent him from returning to power.
He has highlighted the claims against Ms Willis as evidence of perceived misconduct by those pursuing him.
Trump was in New York on Thursday where a judge scheduled a trial on charges related to hush-money payments to a porn star to start on 25 March.
It’s 5.30am, but the car park outside a laundrette in south central Los Angeles is already bustling.
A woman is setting up a stand selling tacos on the pavement and the sun is beginning to rise behind the palm trees.
A group of seven women and two men are gathered in a circle, most wearing khaki green t-shirts.
The leader, a man named Francisco “Chavo” Romero, begins by asking how everyone is feeling. “Angry,” a few of them respond. “Proud of the community for pushing back,” says another.
Ron, a high school history teacher, issues a rallying cry. “This is like Vietnam,” he says. “We’re taking losses, but in the end we’re going to win. It’s a war.”
Francisco ‘Chavo’ Romero leads a volunteer group, attempting to warn people ahead of ICE raids
This is what the resistance against Donald Trump’s immigration policy looks like here. In the past month, immigration and customs enforcement agents – known as ICE – have intensified their raids on homes and workplaces across Los Angeles.
Since the beginning of June, nearly 2,800 undocumented immigrants have been arrested in the city, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The previous monthly high was just over 850 arrests in May this year.
Police use tear gas against protesters, angry at a recent immigration raid at a farm in Camarillo, California. Pic: AP
Videos have circulated online of people being tackled to the ground in the car park of DIY shops, in car washes and outside homes. The videos have prompted outrage, protests and a fightback.
“Chavo” and Ron belong to a group of organised volunteers called Union del Barrio. Every morning, a group of them meet, mostly in areas which have high immigrant populations.
The day I meet them, they’re in an area of LA which is heavily Latino. Armed with walkie talkies to communicate with each other, megaphones to warn the community and leaflets to raise awareness they set out in cars in different directions.
A volunteer from Union del Barrio shows Sky’s Martha Kelner how they try to stay one step ahead of ICE agents
They’re looking for cars used by ICE agents to monitor “targets”.
“That vehicle looks a little suspicious,” says Ron, pointing out a white SUV with blacked-out windows, “but there’s nobody in it”.
An elderly Latino man is standing on a street corner, cutting fruit to sell at his stall. “He’s the exact target that they’re looking for,” Ron says. “That’s what they’re doing now. The low-hanging fruit, the easy victim. And so that is proving to be more successful for their quotas.”
This man, selling fruit on a street corner in LA, is a potential target of immigration agents
In the end, it turns out to be a quiet morning in this part of LA, no brewing immigration operations. But elsewhere in the city, dawn raids are happening.
ICE agents are under pressure from the White House to boost their deportation numbers in line with Donald Trump’s campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration.
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In June, tear gas and rubber bullets were fired at protestors demonstrating against immigration raids
Maria’s husband Javier was one of those arrested in LA. He came to the United States from Mexico when he was 19 and is now 58.
The couple have three grown-up children and two grandchildren. But Javier’s work permit expired two years ago, according to Maria and so he was living here illegally.
Maria’s husband Javier was arrested after his work permit expired
She shows me a video taken last month when Javier was at work at a car wash in Pomona, an area of LA. He is being handcuffed and arrested by armed and masked ICE agents, forced into a car. He is now being held at a detention centre two hours away.
“I know they’re doing their job,” she says, “but it’s like, ‘you don’t have to do it like that.’ Getting them and, you know, forcing people and pushing them down on the ground. They’re not animals.”
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US troops accused of ‘political stunt’ after park raid
Maria wipes away tears as she explains the impact of his absence for the past four weeks. “It’s been so hard without him,” she says. “You feel alone when you get used to somebody and he’s not there any more. We’ve never been apart for as long as this.”
The family have a lawyer and is appealing for him to remain in the US, but Maria fears he will be sent back to Mexico or even a third country.
Maria fears her husband, who has lived in the US for nearly 40 years, will be sent back to Mexico
“I don’t know what to say to my grandkids because the oldest one, who is five was very attached to his papas, as he calls him. And he’s asking me, ‘When is papa coming home?’ and I don’t know what to say. He’s not a criminal.”
The fear in immigrant communities can be measured by the empty restaurant booths and streets that are far quieter than usual.
People in LA are being asked to report sightings of ICE officials so others can be warned
I meet Soledad at the Mexican restaurant she owns in Hollywood. When I arrive, she’s watching the local news on the TV as yet another raid unfolds at a nearby farm.
She’s shaking her head as ICE agents face off with protesters and military helicopters hover overhead. “I am scared. I am very scared,” she says.
All of her eight employees are undocumented, and four of them are too scared to come into work, she says, in case they get arrested. The process to get papers, she says, is too long and too expensive.
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Soledad, who owns a Mexican restaurant, plans to hide her illegal workers if immigration officials arrive
“They call me and tell me they are too afraid to come in because immigration is around,” she says.
“I have to work double shifts to be able to make up for their hours, and yes, I am very desperate, and sometimes I cry… We have no sales, and no money to pay their wages.”
There is just one woman eating fajitas at a booth, where there would usually be a lunchtime rush. People are chilled by the raids.
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Soledad says she plans to hide her illegal workers if immigration officials arrive.
“I’ve told them, get inside the fridge, hide behind the stove, climb up where we have a space to store boxes, do not run because they will hunt you down.”
The White House says they’re protecting the country from criminals. ICE agents have been shot at while carrying out operations, their work becoming more dangerous by the day.
The tension here is ratcheting up. Deportation numbers are rising too. But the order from Donald Trump is to arrest even more people living here illegally.
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