By Jeff Earle, Deputy US Politics Editor, Dailymail.com
23:43 February 15, 2024, updated 00:41 February 16, 2024
After nearly 90 minutes of dramatic testimony in a Georgia court, Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis announced a meeting with prosecutor Nathan Wade before Donald Trump and 18 associates were indicted on racketeering conspiracy charges. He gave a subtle answer suggesting that the “physical” relationship was over.
However, it was not entirely clear whether the relationship itself was completely over before the shocking indictment.
Ms. Wills delves into testimony about a “romantic” relationship that she did not reveal to colleagues and how it began, and when the two broke up after the revelations that led to Trump’s prosecution in Georgia. pursued.
“The relationship ended before the indictment was returned — yes or no?” President Trump’s lawyer, Stephen Sadow, asked inside the Fulton County Courthouse on Friday.
“As a man, yes,” she said. It indicated that by that time her “physical” relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade had ended.
“Yes to men, no to you?” Sadow followed.
“Did the new indictment have anything to do with that?” he pressed.
Willis ventured to comment on the differences between men and women that were important to her answer. It was one of many times prosecutors offered attention-grabbing, sometimes irrelevant information during major hearings. These include her penchant for Gray Goose vodka, having up to $15,000 in cash stashed in her home, and not daring to speculate about her contents. The continent of Belize followed after traveling there with her flame.
“Let’s move on,” Willis said.
‘Mr. Wade is used to women, as he once told me, the only thing a woman can do for him is make him a sandwich. …A man doesn’t need anything. A man is not a plan. The guy is a buddy,” Willis said.
“I don’t need anyone to pay my bills. The only person who will fully cover my bills is my dad.”
“So it’s clear that the physical relationship ended before the charges were filed,” Sadow asked her.
“I don’t know if we didn’t have some tough conversations after that, but the physical relationship — if you asked Mr. Wade, he’s a man, he’d say it ended in June or July. Physical. ‘There was a lot of contact.’ And that was it,” she explained.
“As a woman, my opinion is that if you have a difficult conversation, it’s over. But I think women and men think differently.”
In both scenarios, the prosecutor and the prosecutor signed a contract to help guide the team, and they worked together on the task, albeit in a relationship.
Wade and Willis each testified that their romantic relationship began in 2022 after she brought him in.
He also said the two met at a judicial conference in 2019, although Willis strongly denied having an affair with Wade at the time.
“No matter how much you try to put me on trial, I’m not on trial,” she told Merchant.
Sadow also questioned Wade about the end of the relationship, asking if he was done with it. At that point, there was “no personal relationship.”
“Are you asking if I had sex with the district attorney?” Wade shot back.
“The answer would be no.”
“You say something personal. We’re very good friends,” he told Sadow. “We’re probably closer than ever because of these attacks. But if you ask about intercourse specifically, the answer is no.”
Lawyers often instruct witnesses to give curt answers on the stand, but Willis gave a long answer filled with digressions, clearly angered by some of the lawyers under questioning.
When we talked about travel, food, and drinks with Wade, he said he likes wine.
“To be honest, I don’t really like wine. I like Gray Goose,” she allowed.
After Ashley Merchant and other attorneys tried to prove that the two were dating before Wade’s claims and before Wade was hired, Sadow also pressed her about starting a relationship.
“Did you have any contact with Mr. Wade in 2020?” Sadow asked her.
She said they had “very limited contact” because of “a type of cancer which makes your claim somewhat ridiculous.”
“I’m not going to eviscerate black men,” she repeated emphatically. “Did you understand that?” she asked.
Willis also said she didn’t know the details of Wade’s work trips, but gave details about four trips they took together. She booked the cruise through her travel agent and was reimbursed for her one trip in cash for $2,500.
“Take the Belize trip for example. It was a birthday trip for me, so I didn’t pay anything for the trip,” she said of her 50th birthday extravaganza.
At one point, Sadow asked about the “horde of cash” she brought to various locations. “Money is everywhere.”
When he said “horde,” she said, “I thought you said something different.”
“As a woman, you should always have at least six months worth of cash at home,” she advised. She said her father, whom Mr Merchant wants to call as her witness, “bought me a lock box and there is cash in the house”.
“If you’re a woman going on a date with a man, it’s a good idea to have $200 on hand just in case,” she further advised.
Willis said he had $500 in cash on his “worst day.” “When I was at my best, she probably had $15,000 in cash at home,” she said.
At another point, she said she kept $9,000 in her home.
The details emerged during a dramatic hearing before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee over whether Willis’ office should be excluded from the lawsuit.
Mr. Trump and 18 co-defendants are charged with various racketeering and other charges related to Mr. Trump’s efforts to overturn the state’s election results, which were won by Joe Biden.
