ATLANTA — It was a much more subdued day in court Friday as more witnesses took the stand in the second day of the hearing to have Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her office removed from the Georgia election interference case involving former President Donald Trump and several of his allies.
Willis is accused of having a romantic relationship with the man she named to head up the case as a special prosecutor, Nathan Wade.
In a court filing last month, Willis was accused of not only having an improper relationship with Wade but also benefiting financially from the relationship.
[PHOTOS: Fulton DA takes the stand in hearing to disqualify her from election interference case]
The State opted not to cross-examine Willis on Friday.
Willis’ father, noted attorney John Floyd, was called to the stand Friday morning and told the defense that his daughter wasn’t dating Wade when they claimed she was.
Trump’s attorneys, and the others, claim Willis and Wade had a romantic relationship prior to when she hired him in 2021 and that they misused taxpayer money for lavish vacations.
On the stand Thursday, Willis herself pushed back against those allegations in fiery testimony.
[READ: ‘I’m not on trial!’ Willis takes stand in hearing to disqualify her from election interference case]
“You’ve been intrusive into peoples’ personal lives. You’re confused. You think I’m on trial. These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. I’m not on trial, no matter how hard you put me on trial,” Willis said.
In his testimony Friday, Willis’ father, who lived with his daughter from 2019 to 2021, said she never dated Wade during that time.
“Did you ever meet Mr. Wade in the year 2019?” attorneys asked Floyd.
“Absolutely not,” Floyd said.
“How about in the year 2020?” attorneys asked Floyd.
“Absolutely not,” Floyd said.
“Did you ever see Mr. Wade at Ms. Willis’ house in the year 2021?” attorneys asked Floyd.
“Never,” Floyd answered.
[READ: How will Fani Willis’ testimony impact the election interference case? A legal expert weighs in]
Willis has said she offered the special prosecutor job to five attorneys before hiring Wade.
One of those attorneys was former Gov. Roy Barnes.
Barnes said the FBI already warned him at the time that he was the target of some hate groups, so he just wasn’t up for the challenge of prosecuting Trump and others.
“I told DA Willis I’d lived with the bodyguards for four years, and I didn’t like it, and I wasn’t going to live with bodyguards for the rest of my life,” Barnes said.
That hearing wrapped up late Friday afternoon.
There was no decision by the judge, but we’ll watching for it in the days and weeks to come.
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