A court filing submitted in the Georgia election case against former President Donald Trump offers the testimony of a second witness who will testify that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis started dating Nathan Wade in 2019 or 2020, placing the start of their relationship years before she decided to appoint him as a special prosecutor.
The two-page filing by attorneys representing Trump’s co-defendant, Cathy Latham, offers the testimony of attorney Manny Arora, a former adjunct professor at the Georgia State School of Law, who expressed her willingness to testify during a phone conversation last Thursday.
According to the filing, Arora (pictured above) will testify that he repeatedly spoke with Wade’s former law partner, Terrence Bradley, on “several occasions” to discuss “the relationship between District Attorney Willis and Nathan Wade,” with Bradley providing a number of details about their relationship.
Arora will reportedly testify that Bradley told him Wade “had definitely begun a romantic relationship with Ms. Willis during the time that Ms. Willis was running for District Attorney in 2019 through 2020,” and that Wade supervised her transition team before taking office.
Willis and Wade separately testified that their relationship began in early 2022, while Wade was appointed in 2021.
The filing reveals Arora will also testify that “Bradley stated that he had personal knowledge of the relationship between Mr. Wade and District Attorney Willis,” including information about the apartment Willis subleased from her former Fulton County colleague, Robin Yearti.
Arora is the second witness to offer additional testimony since Judge Scott McAfee heard arguments on the motion to disqualify Willis from the case due to gifts and luxurious vacations she received from Wade, which the special prosecutor purchased using his company credit card. Wade has earned more than $650,000 since Willis appointed him to the Trump case.
The news follows the Monday revelation by attorneys for another defendant that Cobb County Co-Chief Deputy District Attorney Cindi Yeager would testify that she overheard a relationship between Willis and Bradley.
According to that filing, Yeager overheard Willis discuss with Bradley September 2023 reporting by The Georgia Star News and The Washington Examiner that detailed the huge legal fees paid by Fulton County to Wade after he was appointed special prosecutor by the district attorney.
“They are coming after us,” Yeager reportedly overheard Willis tell Bradley. The district attorney then instructs Bradley, “You don’t need to talk to them about anything about us.”
Bradley testified about his knowledge of the relationship between Willis and Wade on three occasions. However, despite Bradley eventually admitting to a lengthy text message chain in which he provided information about the origins of their relationship to attorney Ashleigh Merchant, he claimed he did not have direct knowledge of their romance and dismissed his earlier claims as speculation.
After arguments regarding the potential dismissal concluded on Friday, McAfee said he would create a written ruling within the next two weeks. The judge had not commented on the new filings by press time.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Manny Arora” by Arora Law Trial Attorneys.
the fact she hasnt been already disqualified says a lot.
the ‘appearance’ of a conflict is all that is needed, not 100% beyond a reasonable doubt.
we passed ‘appearance’ long ago