Judge warns Fani Willis over outbursts in heated testimony

Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis, who is prosecuting former President Donald Trump on charges of attempting to overturn the 2020 election, verbally sparred with lawyers for hours at an evidentiary hearing regarding her relationship with the lead prosecutor who she hired to bring the case against Trump. 

At one point, presiding Judge Scott McAfee called a five-minute recess to apparently let tempers cool down. 

When court was back in session, he told lawyers to stop "talking over each other" and cautioned Willis, saying, "we have to listen to the questions as asked. And if this happens again and again, I'm going to have no choice but to strike your testimony."

Willis, who was notably adverse to defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant, said she "had some choice words about some of the things" Merchant and her client Michael Roman — Trump's codefendant in the case — said in the motion. Willis called the motion "dishonest."

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Roman alleged in court filings last month that Willis should be disqualified from the case, claiming that she financially benefited from hiring Wade because of their personal relationship. 

Willis Thursday said she had "some choice words" about Roman's motion, calling some of the allegations "dishonest" and "extremely offensive." At one point, Willis held up a printed copy of the allegations against her in both hands and turned to the judge yelling, "this is a lie!"

Willis also called defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant's interests "contrary to democracy."

Willis took the stand following several witnesses, including Wade and Willis' former friend Robin Yeartie who testified that she had "no doubt" Willis and Wade had a "romantic" relationship starting in 2019, contradicting Willis’ prior statements to the court. 

Much of Willis' testimony focused on vacations she took with Wade, including Carribean cruises and visiting wine country California. 

Both testified that Wade routinely paid for the trips and Willis would reimburse him with cash. When repeatedly pressed about whether any records existed for her withdrawals of the funds, she said she was accustomed and taught by her father to keep 6 months of regular expenses on hand in cash.

Wade took the stand earlier in the hearing. Craig Gillen, attorney for Trump co-defendant David Shafer who also asked the court to disqualify Willis, questioned Wade earlier about Willis' repayments to him for vacations that were made in cash. 

Wade admitted that he did not have deposit slips or receipts to support his claims.

"You don’t have a single solitary deposit slip to corroborate or support any of your allegations that you were paid by Ms. Willis in cash, do you?" Gillen asked. 

"No, sir," Wade said.

"Not a single solitary one," Gillen pressed.

"Not a one."

The defense is trying to prove the existence and extent of any financial benefit to Willis from Wade from their relationship, which is the crux of their argument that Willis should be disqualified. 

Wade also testified that he was not paid by Fulton County as much as the defense claims. In 2022 specifically, Fulton County paid roughly $300,000 to his law firm. But Wade said he received roughly $100,000 because the payments were dispersed between the three people who worked at the firm, all of whom had contracts with the Fulton County DA's office for various reasons. 

Wade's testimony contradicts earlier bombshell revelations from a former "good friend" of DA Willis who testified Thursday that she has "no doubt" Willis and Wade had a "romantic" relationship starting in 2019, contradicting Willis’ prior statements to the court. 

Robin Yeartie, a former Fulton County DA employee and self-described "good friend" of Willis, said Thursday she has "no doubt" Willis and Wade were in a romantic relationship starting in 2019 to when she and Willis last spoke in 2022. 

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This contradicts Willis’ claims in court that she and Wade "have been professional associates and friends since 2019," and "there was no personal relationship" between her and Wade in November 2021 at the time of Wade’s appointment. 

"You have no doubt that their romantic relationship was in effect from 2019 until the last time you spoke with her?" Merchant questioned. 

"No doubt," Yeartie said.

Yeartie said that she and Willis met in college, and when she was employed in the district attorney's office she and Willis were "good friends," but had not spoken since 2022, after Yeartie resigned from her post. 

Yeartie testified that she knew Willis and Wade began their relationship shortly after meeting at a conference in Nov. 2019.

"And when I say personal – romantic," Merchant probed. "I just want to make sure we don't get in an argument over what personal and romantic is," she said. 

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"Yes," Yeartie responded. 

Yeartie was asked whether she saw Willis and Wade "interact on a personal level" since she would see Willis at work "every day."

"And so from everything that you saw, heard, witnessed, is your understanding that they were in a romantic relationship, beginning in 2019?"

"Yes," Yeartie said. 

When asked by Steve Stadow, a lawyer for former President Donald Trump, Yeartie confirmed that she observed Willis and Wade "hugging" and "kissing" and showing "affection" prior to November first of 2021. 

Yeartie testified that Willis subleased her condo starting in April 2021, which Wade claimed he visited. He also said he has never been around other members of the DA’s office at her condo.

Judge McAfee said earlier in the week that depending on his findings after hearing the evidence presented from both sides, Willis could be disqualified from the case. 

"In studying the law that's been filed up to this point, I think it's clear that disqualification can occur if evidence is produced demonstrating an actual conflict or the appearance of one. And the filing submitted on this issue so far have presented a conflict in the evidence that can't be resolved as a matter of law," he said. 

McAfee was appointed to the bench by Republican Governor Brian Kemp in 2021. 

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"Specifically looking at defendant Roman’s motion, it alleges a personal relationship that resulted in a financial benefit to the district attorney. And that is no longer a matter of complete speculation. The state has admitted a relationship existed. And so, what remains to be proven is the existence and extent of any financial benefit," the judge said. 

"So, because I think it's possible that the facts alleged by the defendant could result in disqualification, I think an evidentiary hearing must occur to establish the record on those core allegations," he said. 

Fox News' Claudia Kelly-Bazan contributed to this report.