Fani Willis doesn't testify in second day of hearing on removal from Trump case

Feb. 16 (UPI) -- The hearing is adjourned over the potential removal of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and lead prosecutor Nathan Wade from the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump.

On the stand in a full day of court in Atlanta were Willis' father John Floyd III, Wade's former law partner Terrence Bradley, former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes and more. Defense attorneys representing the former president and some of his 19 co-defendants in the Georgia RICO case sought testimony that would prove Willis and Wade's relationship constituted misconduct and their removal from the case.

Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said all parties will work to schedule a time for closing arguments to take place late next week.

Friday's proceedings quickly paused after the surprise announcement that Willis would not be retaking the stand. Attorneys representing the district attorney's office were set to question Willis but said they had no further questions for her.

Willis' father took the stand for the district attorney's office and detailed threats that were lobbed against her, himself and his grandchildren, forcing Willis to leave her home. Threats included racial slurs yelled at them and spray-painted on the house.

Floyd is a retired attorney. He remained in the home after Willis and her children left but said he feared for his daughter's life after she was named district attorney in 2020.

"There had been so many death threats. They said they were going to blow up the house, they were going to kill her, they were going to kill me, they were going to kill my grandchildren," Floyd said. "I was concerned for her safety."

The South Fulton Police Department placed a police car near the home and a bomb-sniffing dog would visit the home twice a day during this time.

Defense attorneys questioned Willis at length Thursday about why her father would stay in the home if it was dangerous.

"I knew that that was a house that my daughter had worked for. It was a brand new house," Floyd said. "Somebody needed to protect the house and I stayed there to basically take care of the house."

Floyd added that he did not meet Wade until 2023. Prior to that meeting, he said he never heard of Wade. When asked when he learned that Willis and Wade were romantically involved, he said it was about seven weeks ago when the misconduct allegations began.

Floyd explained that it would not be uncommon for Willis not to tell him she is in a relationship. He only knew of her previous boyfriend because he was living with her.

His testimony came after former Gov. Barnes testified, following a break in the case as Wade's former law partner Bradley was set to testify first after a doctor's appointment but didn't arrive until court resumed from lunch in the afternoon.

Barnes said he met with Willis and several more people, including Wade, in 2021, and Willis asked him if he was serving as special counselor in the election interference case. Barnes, a former prosecutor, said he had needed bodyguards in the past because he received threats related to cases he was trying.

"I lived with bodyguards for four years," he said. "I wasn't going to live with bodyguards for the rest of my life."

Barnes said he was not surprised to learn that Wade was eventually named lead prosecutor, describing him as qualified and organized.

Bradley gave brief testimony on Thursday but it was mired in the matter of attorney-client privilege. Bradley said it would be inappropriate for him to speak about Wade. On Friday, the back-and-forth over attorney-client privilege continued through the start of Bradley's testimony.

Attorneys for the defense were attempting to establish when Bradley knew Willis and Wade were in a relationship. Attorney Ashleigh Merchant alleged that Bradley's testimony would confirm that Wade committed perjury during his testimony on Thursday.

Attorney Anna Green Cross, representing the state, objected as Merchant sought to enter text message exchanges between herself and Bradley into the record. Cross said she was concerned that this was gossip and a violation of attorney-client privilege with Wade.

McAfee ultimately decided that the defense's claim of a crime/fraud exception to break through the protection of attorney-client privilege does not apply.

Another attorney attempted to pierce that privilege, citing that adultery is a misdemeanor crime in Georgia. McAfee dismissed this argument quickly.

"Hasn't adultery, just on its face, statutorily been found unconstitutional?" McAfee interjected. "You can't actually charge anyone with adultery anymore. Then it can't be a crime."

Bradley confirmed that he had left the law firm where he and Wade had worked. During cross-examination, it was disclosed that he left due to being accused of sexual assault by an employee. He acknowledged that there was an allegation against him but denied sexually assaulting anyone or paying his accuser directly.

The defense objected on a few occasions as Cross continued to question Bradley about the alleged sexual assault. At one point they sought to re-examine him, arguing that he earlier stated the reason he left the law firm was subject to attorney-client privilege.

"Now I'm left wondering if Mr. Bradley has been properly interpreting privilege this entire time," McAfee said.

The defense did not re-examine Bradley.

After Bradley was dismissed, Cross alleged that he had lied about the sexual assault and that his testimony should then be impeached.

The first day of the hearing ended with Willis on the stand discussing her relationship with Wade as well as her financial activity and how she and Wade split expenses for trips. The attorneys for Trump and co-defendants completed their examination of Willis on Thursday.

The exchanges between Willis and Merchant, who filed the motion to remove her, became heated at times to the point that McAfee issued two warnings about decorum.

Willis accused Merchant -- who is representing defendant Michael Roman -- of lying in her motion and in opening statements.

Prior to Willis' testimony, McAfee warned former President Trump's attorney Steven Sadow about verbose reactions he was making to testimony from the defense table.

Willis and Wade were not allowed to watch each other's testimony but both described the same timeline of their relationship. They confirmed that their relationship began in early 2022 and ended last summer before the indictment of Trump and 19 co-defendants for attempting to undermine the results of the 2020 election.