The prosecutor from the US state of Georgia, who is suing Donald Trump, accusing him of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 elections, defended herself on Thursday, in an emotional and sometimes angry tone, for any conflict of interest related to his private life. .
Fanny Willis accused the former president's lawyer of spreading “lies” aimed at discrediting her.
“It's very painful,” she said, after having to reveal part of her private life in court, as the proceedings were also broadcast on television.
This hearing took place before a judge captured by Donald Trump who demands the dismissal of the charges against him in Georgia, confirming that Prosecutor Willis is guilty of professional misconduct related to an intimate relationship.
Judge Scott McAfee will have to decide whether the relationship between the prosecutor and the veteran investigator she hired, Nathan Wade, rises to the level of a conflict of interest.
For Mr. Trump and the other defendants charged in this Southern state with illegal acts aimed at overturning the results of the 2020 election, the case is clear: Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade had an “inappropriate intimate personal relationship.”
In their argument to the court, they claim the $650,000 paid to Mr. Wade for his work allowed him to offer Ms. Willis a “luxury vacation,” including a cruise in the Caribbean.
For her part, the public prosecutor in charge of investigating the case admitted to having a romantic relationship with the lawyer she appointed, but denied any professional misconduct.
Thus, Mr. Trump's request is “baseless,” Fannie Willis assessed in the court document, confirming that she did not have an intimate relationship with Nathan Wade when she recruited him in November 2021.
The latter confirmed during the hearing that he began this relationship with Fanny Willis in 2022, and claimed that he did not receive any personal financial gains from his role as special prosecutor.
But Robin Bryant Yearty, a friend and former colleague of the prosecutor who also testified on Thursday, said Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade began a “romantic personal relationship” in late 2019.
To which Fanny Willis replied: “You have betrayed our friendship.”
With this case in the spotlight, the prosecutor wanted to set the record straight by naming her opponents.
“These people are being tried for trying to steal the 2020 election,” she said. “I will not be judged, no matter how harshly you try to judge me!”
Judge McAfee has scheduled another day for arguments in court.
Donald Trump, the front-runner in the Republican primary in the November presidential election, pleaded not guilty in the Georgia case.
Since the end of his term in 2021, several prosecutions have targeted the former business mogul.
As part of another legal action, related to buying the silence of a pornographic film actress, he went to a New York court on Thursday, where the judge told him that he must appear in a criminal trial from March 25, the first in history for a former president of the United States.
