Judge Warns Fani Willis over her outbursts
Nearby, in courtroom 5A in the Fulton county justice center, Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor, was testifying about their romantic relationship with Fani Willis as part of a high-stakes hearing over whether or not Fani Willis should be disqualified from handling the wide-ranging election-interference case against Donald Trump and 14 co-defendants.
After Wade finished testifying, a little before 3pm, Fani Willis entered the courtroom herself. As her lawyers began to toss out arguments about why she should not have to take the stand, Willis waved them aside. “I’m ready to go,” she said. And so she did.
For roughly three hours on Thursday, Ms. Willis, the district attorney in Fulton County, Ga., engaged in the fight of her life from the witness stand to try to salvage the case of her life, the prosecution of former President Donald J. Trump.
In a raw performance, Fani Willis, 52, presented herself as a woman in full — by turns combative and serene, focused and discursive (at one point she declared her preference for Grey Goose vodka over wine). Her language toggled between casual (a thousand dollars was “a G”) and precise: On numerous occasions, she prefaced her statements with variations on the phrase, “I want to be very clear.”
She upbraided Ashleigh Merchant, one of the defense lawyers questioning her, alleging that Ms. Merchant’s court filings — which accused Ms. Willis of having a disqualifying conflict of interest stemming from a romantic relationship with Nathan J. Wade, the special prosecutor on the case — were full of lies. At one point her voice approached a yell, prompting Scott McAfee, the mild-mannered judge, to call a five-minute recess in an apparent effort to cool things down.
Video Courtsey : PBS NewsHour (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Tvy2RZESFM)
Fani Willis forcefully pushed back against claims of impropriety, at times getting visibly upset as lawyers questioned her about everything from her finances to trips she has taken with Wade. The judge at one point had to call a break in testimony as tempers flared. Willis accused a defense attorney of trying to smear her, raising papers in front of her and shouting, “It’s a lie!”
“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,” Willis told defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant.
The probing questions for Fani Willis and for Wade, who testified before her, underscored the extent to which the prosecutors are themselves now under a public microscope, with revelations about their personal lives diverting attention away from Trump’s own conduct. The allegations also provided an opening for Republicans to try to cast doubt on the legitimacy of one of four criminal cases Trump is facing as he vies to reclaim the White House in November.
It’s unclear when the judge might rule on whether Willis and her office should be disqualified from the case. Judge Scott McAfee said during a hearing Monday that Willis could be disqualified “if evidence is produced demonstrating an actual conflict or the appearance of one.”
Willis, who had previously tried to avoid testifying, agreed to do so Thursday after a former friend and co-worker testified that Willis and Wade’s relationship began earlier than they had claimed.
Fani Willis charged Trump and 18 co-defendants in August with conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Four defendants have pleaded guilty, while Trump, who faces 13, has Pleaded not guilty.
Trump did not attend Thursday’s hearing in Georgia. Instead, he appeared in court in New York for a separate case involving hush money payments that is set to go to trial in late March.
Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the New York case, tied to hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. He has pleaded not guilty.
Trump faces cascading legal obligations as his criminal and civil cases advance — with court appearances often colliding with the demands of his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.