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.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Will Trump address parliament on UK state visit?
This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
Read more from Sky News:
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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