During a heated hearing in Atlanta on Tuesday, a crucial witness declined to provide specific information regarding the romantic relationship between Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and the special prosecutor she had appointed to handle the criminal case against Donald Trump.
Terrence Bradley, a lawyer who previously represented special prosecutor Nathan Wade during his divorce proceedings, was compelled to answer questions under oath. Despite the lengthy questioning, Bradley consistently maintained that he lacked specific knowledge about Willis’ relationship with Wade. This included not knowing whether they were dating at the time she hired him as an external attorney under contract with Fulton County.
Trump and his co-defendants are attempting to have Willis, along with her entire office, disqualified from the case. They argue that Willis received improper benefits from the case, as Wade, the prosecutor she hired, allegedly used funds from the case to finance vacations with Willis.
Willis and Wade have admitted to being in a romantic relationship but have testified that it commenced only after Willis hired Wade in November 2021. They maintain their innocence and deny any misconduct.
The lawyers representing Trump and his co-defendants had indicated that Bradley would provide testimony suggesting that Willis and Wade had entered into a romantic relationship prior to Willis hiring him. If Bradley had indeed testified to this, it would have bolstered the efforts to disqualify the prosecutors and potentially exposed Willis and Wade to allegations of perjury.
Bradley, on the other hand, couldn’t remember exactly when he became aware of the romantic relationship between Willis and Wade. He insisted that he had only discussed the relationship with Wade once.
During the hearing, Ashleigh Merchant, an attorney representing one of Trump’s co-defendants, presented text messages from Bradley stating that the prosecutors’ relationship started before Wade joined Willis’ team. However, Bradley, who was compelled to testify under a subpoena and expressed reluctance, did not affirm the content of his text messages. Instead, he claimed that he was merely speculating in those messages and had no recollection of when their romance began.
Despite the strong opposition from Trump-aligned lawyers, including Steve Sadow, who represents the former president, Bradley remained steadfast in his position.
Sadow questioned, “Do you expect the court to believe that you chose to speculate instead of remaining silent?”
Bradley admitted, “Yes, I did speculate.”
Richard Rice, the attorney representing another co-defendant, challenged Bradley’s credibility by questioning whether he had been dishonest in his communication with Merchant regarding Wade. Rice pointed out that Bradley had previously referred to Wade as a friend.
Rice questioned Bradley about his behavior in relationships with friends, asking if he typically spreads lies about them. She directly asked him if it is something he engages in regularly.
Bradley responded, “Have I ever lied about my friends? It’s possible, I can’t say for sure.”
Tuesday’s testimony from Bradley marked the continuation of a gripping evidentiary hearing that commenced earlier this month and saw testimonies from both Willis and Wade. Judge Scott McAfee has requested the attorneys to present their legal arguments on the disqualification effort this Friday, with an anticipated ruling to follow.