Key witness in Fani Willis case testifies he may have lied in texts about friends’ affair

Former law firm partner and divorce attorney Terrance Bradley testified under oath Tuesday regarding what he knew about Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis and special prosector Nathan Wade’s personal relationship. Bradley took the stand after Judge Scott McAfee determined Bradley couldn’t claim attorney-client privilege.

Bradley, when pressed under oath, said he couldn’t recall several details and timelines about conversations he had with former client Nathan Wade about Wade’s romantic relationship with Fani Willis. 

Defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant at one point referenced text messages between her and Bradley in which she had asked Bradley if he thought their relationship started before Willis hired Wade in 2021. Bradley responded “absolutely” in the text exchange. 

But in court Tuesday, Bradley claimed he was “speculating” in those comments. 

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Attorney Richard Rice later asked Bradley if he makes a habit of passing on “lies about your friends.” 

“Do you tell lies about your friends? About a case of national importance?” Rice asked. 

“I could have had, I don’t know,” Bradley responded. 

Bradely said he couldn’t recall key details or specific information over two dozen times in the roughly two-hour testimony in Fulton County Superior Court Tuesday. He also claimed he had only ever discussed Wade’s relationship with Willis once with Wade.

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Bradley earlier this month avoided answering certain questions, citing attorney-client privilege. Judge McAfee said he would hold an “in-camera” meeting with Bradley to determine if his privilege assertions are accurate. He said it appeared Bradley may have been misusing his attorney-client privilege. 

Bradley is the former law firm partner to Nathan Wade, who is accused of having an affair that financially benefited Willis after she hired him to help prosecute the election interference case against former president Donald Trump. 

On Tuesday, Bradley said he hadn’t spoken to Wade in two years after having been friends for over 10 years.  

Bradley had refused to answer some of the questions asked by defense counsel about what he knew about Wade and Wills’ relationship and when he knew, citing attorney-client privilege. Bradley, for a brief time, was Wade’s lawyer during Wade’s divorce.

Judge McAfee determined after the in-camera meeting that Bradley’s testimony was not covered by privilege, leading to Tuesday’s testimony, which is likely the last installment of evidentiary hearings before both sides present final arguments Friday. 

Lawyers for Trump and his co-defendants who are accusing Willis of having had an “improper” affair with Wade will try to connect evidence that Willis and Wade lied about when their relationship began and should therefore be disqualified from the case. 

Earlier this month, Willis’ father, John C. Floyd III, took the stand and confirmed what Willis testified to on Thursday — that her father taught her to keep large amounts of cash on hand at all times. She claimed it was from these funds that she reimbursed Wade for luxury trips, which is why she had no record of the payments.

He also said he did not meet Wade until 2023, and that he was unaware his daughter had a romantic relationship with Wade until about seven weeks ago, when allegations of Willis’ impropriety were first made in court filings. 

During their romantic relationship, which ended last summer, Wade and Willis vacationed to wine country in California, the Caribbean and other destinations. 

Michael Roman, a GOP political operative and co-defendant in the Trump case, first alleged that Willis had a conflict of interest in the case because she benefited financially from hiring her lover. Four co-defendants have made similar accusations. 

The crux of the defense’s case is whether it can prove with a money trail that Willis has a conflict of interest in the case against Trump and should be disqualified. 

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Willis testified Thursday that she reimbursed Wade for her share of vacation expenses in cash, but she and Wade testified there were no receipts for those transactions.

The defense, led by Ashleigh Merchant, is also trying to prove Willis and Wade were romantically involved prior to Wade’s employment in the DA’s office.

Both Willis and Wade insisted that their relationship started in 2022, after Wade was hired. But they contradicted testimony from Robin Yeartie, a former “good friend” of Willis and past employee at the DA’s office. 

Yeartie said she had “no doubt” Willis and Wade’s relationship started in 2019, after the two met at a conference. 

Yeartie testified to observing Willis and Wade “hugging” and “kissing” and showing “affection” prior to November 2021 and that she had no doubt that the two were in a “romantic” relationship starting in 2019 and lasting until she and Willis last spoke in 2022. 

Willis dismissed Yeartie’s testimony and said she no longer considers Yeartie a friend. 

The highlight of the two-day proceeding was Willis’ own — and unexpected — testimony Thursday, which was described by one expert as “belligerent.”

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She verbally sparred with lawyers for hours, at one point prompting the judge to threaten to strike her testimony. She also raised eyebrows for appearing to be wearing her dress backward. She did not return to the witness stand Friday. 

Judge McAfee said at the start of the proceedings earlier this month that it’s “clear that disqualification can occur if evidence is produced demonstrating an actual conflict or the appearance of one.”