Fulton County district attorney is leading a sprawling case against the former president and his allies
The Georgia prosecutor leading a sprawling election interference case against Donald Trump has testified in court about allegations of misconduct levelled against her by the former president and his co-defendants ā questions that could potentially disqualify them from the case.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis began her testimony in an Atlanta courtroom on Thursday after defence attorneys questioned lead prosecutor Nathan Wade about the timeline of their relationship and the expenses they shared.
The attorneys had already admitted to their relationship but firmly rejected the āmeritlessā and āsalaciousā allegations as ābad-faithā attempts to see her kicked off a case that Mr Trump has baselessly labelled a conspiracy against him, according to court filings.
Thursdayās hearing is scrutinising allegations that the former couple financially benefited from Ms Willis hiring Mr Wade to prosecute the former presidentās case, which charges Mr Trump and more than a dozen co-defendants as part of a ācriminal enterpriseā to overturn the stateās election results in 2020.
āIāve been very anxious to have this conversation with you today,ā Ms Willis told defence attorney Ashleigh Merchant. āItās ridiculous that you lied on Monday and yet here we are. ā¦ Iām actually surprised that the hearing continued. But since it did, here I am.ā
There is a prior case where she was disqualified due to the āappearance of improprietyā. And weāre having the same discussion, only in a more important case. Perception matters in a jury trial, and Willis did not take the care to avoid the appearance or suggestion of impropriety- again.
Weāre all pissed about judges giving lenient treatment to Trump so far, but thatās how you build and KEEP a defensible case. āReasonable doubtā has gotten a lot of guilty people off free, no matter how shaky the evidence creating that doubt is: