Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks at a press conference next to prosecutor Nathan Wade after a grand jury brought back indictments against former President Donald Trump and his allies in their attempt to overturn the state’s 2020 election results, in Atlanta on Aug. 14, 2023.
Elijah Nouvelage | Reuters
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Thursday lashed out at a defense lawyer as she testified before a judge who is considering whether to disqualify her from prosecuting Donald Trump on election interference charges.
“It’s ridiculous to me that you lied on Monday and yet here we still are,” Willis told the lawyer, Ashleigh Merchant, from the witness stand in Fulton County Superior Court.
On two occasions, Judge Scott McAfee warned Willis that he would have to strike her testimony if she continued to interrupt the questioner.
The D.A.’s extremely tense testimony came hours into a hearing focused on allegations that Willis personally benefited from her romantic relationship with attorney Nathan Wade, one of the top prosecutors in the criminal case.
Willis and Wade have denied that their relationship began prior to November 2021, when Wade became special prosecutor. Before Willis took the stand, however, a witness alleged that the relationship began years before Wade joined the case.
The timeline is key to arguments over whether the prosecutors’ relationship presents a conflict of interest warranting their disqualification from the criminal case.
Attorney Fani Willis takes the stand as a witness during a hearing in the case of State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., February 15, 2024.
Alyssa Pointer | Reuters
Willis eagerly took the stand in the mid-afternoon and quickly accused Merchant of lying to the court.
“It seems today that a lawyer writes a lie, and then it’s printed for all of the world to see,” Willis said.
She also criticized Robin Yeartie, a former employee in the D.A.’s Office and…
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