CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig asserted a judge is facing a borderline decision on whether to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from her election interference case against former President Donald Trump.
Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee held a two-day hearing earlier in February to determine whether Willis should be disqualified from the case over allegations she financially benefited by appointing her romantic partner Nathan Wade as special prosecutor. McAfee on Monday ordered Wade’s former law partner and former divorce attorney Terrence Bradley to testify regarding the special prosecutor’s relationship with Willis after determining that some of Wade’s conversations with him are not protected by attorney-client privilege despite previous assertions. (RELATED: Dramatic Hearing On Fani Willis Corruption Allegations Comes To A Close With Outcome Still Unclear)
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The decision to order Bradley’s testimony shows the judge is seriously weighing the decision to disqualify her, Honig asserted on “CNN Newsroom With Jim Acosta.”
“The fact that the judge is going to hear from this attorney, Mr. [Bradley], later today tells me that the judge is taking a very hard look at this,” Honig asserted. “The judge has had several opportunities if he wanted to just end this. He didn’t have to hold the hearing at all. The DA’s office did not want him to hear from Mr. [Bradley] at all, but the judge has said we’re going to have a hearing. It’s going to be public and now he‘s going to hear from this former lawyer of Mr. Wade. So it’s a really close call in my estimation based on what we’ve seen. There clearly was some poor judgment exhibited by the DA.”
Both Willis and Wade testified that the special prosecutor did not spend any nights at her condo, but phone records referenced in a Friday court filing suggest he was in her neighborhood at least 35 times in 2021.
Robin Yeartie, who used to be Willis’ close friend and formerly worked in the district attorney’s office, testified during the hearing that Willis’ relationship with Wade began shortly after they met at a 2019 conference. Yeartie’s testimony contradicts court filings that claim the romance started after Wade’s contract commenced in 2022.
Wade and Willis could face disbarment and charges if McAfee rules they lied under oath based on the phone records, legal experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“The bigger issue now is Fani Willis and Nathan Wade have both testified and sworn under oath that their romantic relationship didn’t start until after Nathan Wade came on board onto this case,” Honig said. “If that turns out to be true, then that should put an end to this issue. But if that turns out to be false, there’s gonna be major problems for Nathan Wade and Fani Willis.”
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