Politics

Fani Willis misconduct hearing live updates: ‘Daddy didn’t even know they had a relationship!’ Trump attorney bellows; judge reveals when he’ll decide whether to kick her off the case

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Updated March 1, 2024, 5:33 p.m. ET

Donald Trump defense lawyers faced off in an Atlanta courtroom with attorneys from a Georgia district attorney’s office on Friday, giving final arguments before a judge decides whether Fulton County DA Fani Willis and her special prosecutor Nathan Wade will be kicked off the criminal racketeering case they’ve waged against the former president.

Willis and Wade admitted to a clandestine affair after they were outed for it in January — but maintain the relationship became official in 2022, after they brought the case against the ex-president.

But witnesses including Willis’ former BFF and employee, and Wade’s ex-law partner claimed they knew of the attorneys’ being intimate as early as 2019.

Whether Willis will be booted from the prosecution team could hinge on whether Judge Scott McAfee finds there to be proof that their relationship began before the time they’ve admitted to being lovers.

He said when closing court Friday that he “hopes” to make a decision within the next two weeks.

Willis alleges in her bombshell criminal racketeering case that Trump and others for tried to overturn the 2020 election in the Peach Tree state.

This live blog has ended.

Read on to find out what happened in the final Fani Willis misconduct hearing on Friday:

What to know about District Attorney Fani Willis' trial

  • Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis is being accused of misusing state and federal funds, and also engaging in an “improper” relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
  • Willis admitted to having a “personal relationship” with Wade, but said it didn’t become romantic until after 2022 due to the case against former President Donald Trump.
  • Willis hired Wade to work on the Trump case and paid him $654,000 in 2022, according to Trump co-defendant Michael Roman.
  • Trump and his co-defendants are looking to disqualify Willis from the case and to have all charges, centered around the state’s expansive anti-racketeering RICO law, dismissed.
  • The defense has presented dozens of pings from Wade’s cellphone that placed it at Willis’ rented condo prior to 2022. A former friend of Willis, who owned the condo, has testified that she saw the two of them “hugging” and “kissing” in 2019.
  • On March 15, a judge ruled Willis can stay on and prosecute the Georgia election interference case against Trump and his co-defendants for allegedly trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election — if Wade steps aside.

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