A co-defendant in former President Donald Trump‘s Georgia election subversion case asked a judge on Tuesday to allow at least one more witness to testify in a bid to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over alleged impropriety and corruption.
Co-defendant Cathy Latham, a former Coffee County Republican chairwoman accused of being a “fake elector” in the sweeping racketeering case, asked Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to admit testimony of attorney Manny Arora, former adjunct professor at Georgia State School of Law and Board Certified in criminal law, that she claims would contradict testimony by Willis regarding the origins of her relationship with her hired special prosecutor, Nathan Wade.
McAfee has already heard testimony from witnesses after complaints from Trump and his co-defendants that the romantic relationship between Willis and Wade led to improper financial benefits for the district attorney. The co-defendants argued she should be disqualified from prosecuting the case. Both prosecutors deny wrongdoing.
Lawyers for Latham said that Arora had several conversations with Terrence Bradley, Wade’s former law partner, who repeatedly told the court last week that he had no proof the relationship between Willis and Wade began before Wade’s hiring in late 2021. But Latham’s counsel said the claims by Arora should prompt the judge to reconvene to hear from him.
“Between September through October 2023, Mr. Arora had several conversations with attorney Terrence Bradley regarding the relationship between District Attorney Wills and Nathan Wade,” Latham’s motion said.
The motion further stated that Arora could testify that “Mr. 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.”
Arora would also testify that Bradley had “personal knowledge” about Willis and Wade’s relationship, including that Wade had a garage door opener to access the condo Willis was renting from her then-friend and colleague Robin Bryant Yeartie. Bradley has testified under oath that he did not have any knowledge of the garage door opener. But Yeartie told the court that she had knowledge Willis and Wade began dating long before Wade’s hiring.
At hearings in mid-February about their relationship, both Willis and Wade testified under oath that they weren’t romantically involved until 2022, which lawyers for Trump and his co-defendants allege may not be true based on the claims of witnesses who have come forward.
Latham’s motion comes one day after another co-defendant, David Shafer, asked to introduce evidence regarding an alleged phone conversation between Willis and Bradley last fall that was supposedly overheard by prosecutor Cindi Lee Yeager, who became concerned when Bradley’s testimony last week contradicted what he told her. Both the claims from Shafer and Latham’s filings are not admissible to the court unless the judge allows them to be submitted into the record.
Closing arguments over the defendants’ bid to disqualify Willis wrapped on Friday, just days after Bradley took the witness stand and claimed that previous comments he told defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant about the origins of Willis and Wade’s relationship were just “speculation.”
The saga over alleged personal gains that the defense says Willis secured by hiring Wade has been rejected by Willis, who said she made cash reimbursements for trips that Wade paid for the pair to go on together using his credit card. Even if the judge doesn’t find that Willis acted with corrupt intentions, the defense has sought to prove that she and Wade lied about the origins of their relationship and that it began years before she selected him to handle the sweeping indictment of Trump and his allies.
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McAfee said on Friday that he hopes to rule in the next two weeks on whether Willis can stay on the case.
Read the full filing from Latham:
Cathy Latham motion 03/05/24 by Kaelan Deese on Scribd
