Judge indicates he will rule within next 2 weeks on bid to remove Fani Willis from Trump case
Associated PressATLANTA — The judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump indicated Friday that he would rule within the next two weeks on whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case over a romantic relationship with a top prosecutor. After several days of extraordinary testimony, Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee heard arguments over whether Willis’ relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade amounts to a conflict of interest that should force them off one of four criminal criminal cases against the former president. McAfee said at the end of the hearing that there are “several legal issues to sort through, several factual determinations that I have to make,” adding that he “will be taking the time to make sure that I give this case the full consideration it’s due.” Willis walked into the hearing after attorneys for the election case defendants wrapped up their arguments, and sat at a table where Wade and his attorney were also seated while listening to Abbate make his case. But Wade’s former law partner and onetime divorce attorney, Terrence Bradley, expected to be a key witness for lawyers trying to disqualify Willis, was at times evasive during testimony, and said he had “no direct knowledge of when the relationship started.” In one of hundreds of text messages Bradley exchanged with Roman’s attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, however, he told her that he “absolutely” believed the relationship began before Willis hired Wade.