Attorneys grilled the former lover of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for several hours Thursday over the couple’s relationship and when it started as defense attorneys worked to get Willis thrown off the prosecution of Donald Trump’s election interference case.
Robin Bryant-Yeartie, a friend since college and former Fulton County District Attorney’s Office employee, said that Willis began a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade in 2019 shortly after they met at a judicial conference.
Wade spent several hours on the stand, sometimes he answered questions, other times he scampered around them, especially questions about whether he lied under oath during his divorce from his former wife about his relationship with Willis.
Wade directly contradicted Robin Bryant-Yeartie. He said the relationship started in March 2022, after he had been hired to prosecute the Trump case.
The questioning was intense and often interrupted by objections from attorneys representing several different parties.
Wade said that Willis reimbursed him in cash for trips they took, except for a trip to Belize for his birthday, which Willis covered as a gift. He said he only had one receipt from those trips and that he didn’t deposit the cash Willis gave him as reimbursement. He said he used his business card for such purchases and then had his accountant determine which were business and which were personal.
Attorney Craig Gillen, who represents one of Trump’s co-defendants in the case, asked Wade questions about the cash payments and his relationship with Willis.
“You don’t have a single solitary deposit slip to corroborate?” Gillen asked.
Wade said he did not.
In August 2023, a Fulton County grand jury indicted Trump and 18 others, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former state Republican Party Chair David Shafer, on charges they tried to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Trump has pleaded not guilty.
Judge Scott McAfee has yet to decide if Willis can continue on the case.
Willis is expected to take the stand this afternoon.
