Attorneys for one of the co-defendants of former President Donald Trump in the Georgia 2020 election interference case on Monday said a new witness could testify on the timeline of the relationship between Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and a top prosecutor she hired to work on the case, according to new court documents.
While Willis admitted to having a relationship with Nathan Wade, whom she hired as one of the three special prosecutors in the case in November 2021, she said the romance didn’t start until the spring of 2022. Both testified their relationship ended last summer.
David Shafer, a defendant in the case, has contested the testimony by Willis and Wade about when they started dating.
In a court filing submitted Monday, Shafer’s lawyers Craig Gillen and Holly Pierson requested to subpoena Cindi Lee Yeager, a co-chief deputy district attorney for Cobb County, Georgia, for testimony if Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee grants a request to reopen hearings into the potential disqualification of Willis.
Gillen and Pierson claim Yeager could testify that lawyer Terrance Bradley, who has previously appeared before the court, told her Willis and Wade “definitely” started dating when Willis was running for the district attorney’s office in 2019 through 2020.
Bradley has already testified before McAfee, but said he was “speculating” when defense attorneys brought up a text he sent them stating he believed Wade and Willis had been dating since she was municipal court judge.
Shafer’s attorneys added that Yeager could also provide testimony on a conversation she allegedly heard take place between Willis and Bradley when he visited her office around September 2023. Willis, according to the court documents, called Bradley to discuss an article in the press about how much Wade was being paid for his work on the Fulton County probe.
“They are coming after us,” Willis allegedly told Bradley. “You don’t need to talk to them about anything about us.”
Shafer’s lawyers added that Yeager became “concerned” over the inconsistencies she spotted in Bradley’s testimony.
It’s unclear if this will have an impact on how McAfee will rule. The judge said Friday he would issue a decision on whether Willis should be disqualified within the next two weeks.
“I think it’s been very much made clear by the argument made today that there are several legal issues to sort through, several factual determinations I have to make, and those aren’t ones I can make at this moment,” he said.
Willis’ office has not commented on the allegations included in Monday’s filing, but the Fulton County district attorney has previously fiercely defended herself against accusations of wrongdoing.
“I’m not on trial no matter how hard you try to put me on trial,” she told defense attorneys in a hearing last month.
Shafer and others have accused Willis of corruption, claiming she financially benefited from hiring Wade to work on the case. They claim Wade paid for trips the two took with the money he made working on the election case.
Willis has dismissed the allegations, claiming she split the costs with Wade and reimbursed him in cash.
Shafer, Trump and 17 others were indicted in August over their efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. Four defendants have so far reached plea deals with prosecutors.