Civil rights attorney Leo Terrell said Thursday witness testimony may have provided the key evidence to disqualify District Attorney Fani Willis and prosecutor Nathan Wade from Trump’s trial in Fulton County, Georgia.
Willis verbally sparred with lawyers for hours at an evidentiary hearing regarding her relationship with the lead prosecutor she hired to bring the case against Trump.
Co-defendant GOP political operative Michael Roman alleged in court filings last month that Willis should be disqualified from the case, claiming that she financially benefited from hiring Wade because of their personal relationship.
Fox News correspondent Steve Harrigan spoke to “Outnumbered” co-host Harris Faulkner about how the judge presiding over this case warned that “even the appearance” of a conflict of interest or lying on affidavits could be enough to disqualify both from involvement from Trump’s legal case in Georgia.
Leo Terrell, a civil rights attorney who serves as a FOX News Media contributor, argued today that the judge presiding over the Fani Willis case has shocking new evidence he didn’t have 24 hours ago. (Fox News)
Terrell agreed when he joined the segment, arguing the judge has key evidence today that may steer the course of the case.
“Well, I’ll tell you right now, the bombshell is the witness who testified that there was a personal relationship before the prosecution of this case, and that is the evidence that the judge will have to decide,” he said. “Steve Harrigan said it best. Disqualification occurs if there is actual conflict or the appearance.”
Terrell went on to say, “I would submit to you that the witness who testified on the relationship prior to 2022 is the evidence of the appearance of a romantic relationship.”
The other notable courtroom event Terrell recalled was “Wade’s characterization that his marriage was over in 2015. He lost a lot of credibility, because the interlocutories that he answered deny the existence of any gift, dinners or anything else. That was a very creative argument on his part. I don’t think it’s gonna fly, because it doesn’t pass the smell test, those are the two facts that I think were significant today.”
Faulkner noted the witness indeed was close enough to Willis to the point where she could testify about her life, in that “not only did she work in the District Attorney’s office for Fani Willis, she also rented housing out to Fani Willis when Fani Willis didn’t want to live at home anymore. She was renting a condo from [the witness], so they had a close relationship, they were close friends, that is what she called them.”
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testifies during a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse on February 15, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. Judge Scott McAfee is hearing testimony as to whether Willis and Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade should be disqualified from the case for allegedly lying about a personal relationship. (Photo by Alyssa Pointer-Pool/Getty Images)
Terrell was asked by co-host Kayleigh McEnany about whether progress was made in discerning the timing and financial aspects of Willis and Wade’s relationship.
“Regarding the existence of a relationship prior to 2022, the answer is definitely yes, this friend of hers had personal knowledge,” Terrell said. “She saw Fani Willis. She conversed with Fani Willis. Fani Willis told her that there was a romantic relationship, so definitely on that, yes, and again I go back to those interlocutories where Nathan Wade tried to conceal in his divorce proceedings, by way of interlocutories, the existence of gifts or dinners or trips.”
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Terrell went on to summarize, “I think there is evidence that the judge has now that he didn’t have 24 hours ago. And again, I cannot stress this enough, disqualification occurs, Kayleigh, if there is actual conflict or the appearance. We learned a lot today, the nation learned a lot, so I think those two components have been met.”
Fox News’s Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report.