One of the lawyers prosecuting Donald Trump for trying to overturn his election defeat in Georgia testified on Tuesday about his personal relationship with the lead prosecutor, a liaison the former US president and his allies allege has tainted the case.
The lawyer, Nathan Wade, took the witness stand during a hearing in a state court in Atlanta on claims by Mr Trump and allies that Mr Wade's relationship with Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis presented an improper conflict of interest.
He spoke after a former friend and employee of Ms Willis, Robin Yeartie, contradicted the timeline of the relationship Mr Wade presented in a sworn statement to the court.
Ms Yeartie testified that Ms Willis and Mr Wade began dating shortly after they met in 2019 and before Mr Wade was contracted to lead the Trump case. Ms Willis and Mr Wade have said the romantic relationship began in 2022 after Mr Wade was already working as a special prosecutor.
Mr Trump and several of his co-defendants are seeking to disqualify Ms Willis and her office from prosecuting the case.
The Georgia case is one of four criminal prosecutions that Mr Trump is facing as he closes in on securing the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic president Joe Biden in the November election.
Mr Trump himself was in New York on Thursday where a judge scheduled a trial on charges related to hush-money payments to a porn star.
A lawyer for former Trump adviser Michael Roman, one of 15 remaining defendants in the Georgia case, first raised the allegations in a court filing last month that accused Ms Willis, an elected Democrat, of benefiting financially from the relationship, including by accepting trips from Mr Wade.
'Fantastical theories and rank speculation'
Ms Willis’ office has blasted the disqualification effort as a publicity stunt based on "fantastical theories and rank speculation".
The allegations have roiled Ms Willis’ historic prosecution of Mr Trump and 14 allies who have pleaded not guilty to charges of forming a criminal conspiracy to overturn Mr Trump’s 2020 defeat in Georgia.
Mr Trump has long presented the Georgia prosecution, and others he faces, as politically motivated attempts to prevent him from returning to power. He has highlighted the claims against Ms Willis as evidence of perceived misconduct by those pursing him.
Mr Trump signed onto the disqualification effort, accusing Ms Willis of improperly discussing race during a speech in which she appeared to reference the allegations. Ms Willis, who along with Mr Wade is Black, has said her remarks did not violate any ethical rules.
Ms Willis and Mr Wade could be forced to testify at the hearing after the judge said he would not immediately rule on their effort to quash subpoenas from Mr Roman demanding they take the witness stand.
Judge Scott McAfee said on Monday that if allegations of financial impropriety by Ms Willis are proven, it could be grounds to disqualify her office from the case, an outcome that would likely cause substantial delays and throw the future of the case into doubt.
Mr Trump's lawyers have been working to delay the various prosecutions he faces. Were he to win the November election, he could order a halt to two federal prosecutions - or possibly pardon himself of any federal convictions - as well as argue that as president he should not face state prosecutions like the Georgia case.
-Reuters
