Judge Scott McAfee ruled on Monday that the former divorce lawyer for special prosecutor Nathan Wade should testify about Wade’s relationship with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as she faces disqualification from the election interference case against former President Donald Trump.
McAfee said that Terrence Bradley, who previously worked as Wade’s law partner and divorce lawyer, would not be exempted from testifying on the relationship between Willis and Wade, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Bradley’s testimony could shed further light on when the relationship between Wade and Willis began, a key part of the case for disqualifying Willis.
Lawyers for Mike Roman, one of Trump’s co-defendants, have argued that Willis should be disqualified because of an improper relationship with Wade, with whom she admitted to having a romantic relationship. Roman’s lawyers say that their romance began before the Trump case and that Willis has paid Wade hundreds of thousands of dollars which they have used to go on lavish vacations.
Willis claims that the relationship began after she hired Wade, who reportedly has little prosecuting experience. She also disputed allegations that Wade was paying for their trips entirely with money she had paid him from the Trump case.
McAfee met with Bradley for more than an hour on Monday before ruling that emails between him and Wade did not fall under attorney-client privilege. Bradley, Wade, and Willis had all attempted to block Bradley from testifying.
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Trump’s lawyers submitted cell phone data last week that they say contradicts Wade’s testimony about the timeline of his relationship with Willis. The data indicates that Wade appeared to make 35 trips to Willis’ neighborhood in Hapeville, Georgia, before he was hired. During his testimony last week, Wade said he had not visited Willis’ home more than ten times before 2021.
The data submitted by Trump’s attorneys poses another timeline issue for Willis, since both she and Wade testified under oath that their romantic relationship didn’t begin until 2022. An affidavit from investigator Charles Mittelstadt was included in Friday’s court filing and says that Willis and Wade called each other more than 2,000 times in the first 11 months of 2021. Willis and Wade also sent nearly 12,000 text messages during that same time period, according to CellHawk, the tool Mittelstadt used.
Trump has maintained his innocence in Georgia, saying that he is being prosecuted for political purposes.