By Caden Pearson
Trump co-defendant Michael Roman filed a motion on Friday identifying a witness who could testify that Fulton County’s district attorney and a prosecutor she hired began a romantic relationship before they pursued the election case, refuting sworn testimony.
In the 122-page filing, Mr. Roman’s lawyer said a former associate of prosecutor Nathan Wade would refute the prosecutor’s timeline of his relationship with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Mr. Wade and Ms. Willis recently admitted under oath to having a “personal relationship,” which Mr. Wade said began after the election case began in 2022.
However, this timeline will be refuted by Terrence Bradley, a lawyer and member of the Georgia Bar who is a former associate of Mr. Wade, according to the filing.
Mr. Bradley, who the filing asserts has “non-privileged, personal knowledge,” will testify that the alleged relationship began in January 2021, before Ms. Willis was sworn in as Fulton County’s district attorney.
Adding a layer of complexity to the matter, Mr. Bradley at one time represented Mr. Wade in his divorce.
However, Mr. Roman’s lawyer argued that attorney-client privilege would not prevent the testimony. The motion argues that the information about Mr. Wade’s relationship was obtained “in a personal capacity” as friends before Mr. Wade sought legal advice from Mr. Bradley.
Furthermore, his testimony will not relate to any privileged attorney-client communications or work product, the filing states.
“Bradley obtained information about the relationship between Wade and Willis directly from Wade when Wade was not seeking legal advice from Bradley. Bradley obtained this information in a personal capacity as Wade’s friend prior to Wade’s decision to file for divorce,” the filing states.
Mr. Bradley also has “personal knowledge” that the pair “regularly stayed together” at Ms. Willis’s home until her father moved in in 2020, and at another residence Ms. Willis once shared with a former employee of the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, according to the filing.
Ms. Willis hired Mr. Wade to investigate former President Donald Trump and 14 others over racketeering allegations related to their efforts to challenge the 2020 election results in Georgia.
An evidentiary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 15 to address the allegations, which Mr. Roman has argued are grounds for disqualifying Ms. Willis, the prosecutors, and the entire indictment.
The district attorney of Fulton County has been accused of benefiting financially from her arrangement with Mr. Wade, who received nearly $700,000 from her office. Additionally, Mr. Wade spent some of that money on vacations with Ms. Willis.
Ms. Willis has moved to cancel the hearing. In a lengthy filing, Ms. Willis confirmed her personal relationship with Mr. Wade but rejected any conflict of interest that would disqualify them from the case.
The district attorney has argued that the subpoena she received to testify amounts to an “incredibly inappropriate” intrusion into opposing counsel’s personal life. She also raised an issue with Mr. Bradley being on the witness list.
She asked the judge to quash the subpoenas, arguing the hearing would be turned into a “circus” of media interest in the high-profile case and therefore “intrude further into the personal lives of the prosecution team in an effort to embarrass and harass the district attorney personally.”
Mr. Roman’s motion on Friday urged the court to go ahead with the hearing, arguing for his opportunity to present evidence and testimony to support his motion to dismiss.
Mr. Roman’s attorney has accused Ms. Willis of trying to avoid answering questions under oath about the relationship, potential ethical breaches, and non-disclosures of gifts from Mr. Wade.
Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade have filed motions to quash subpoenas that would require their testimony on Feb. 15.
Mr. Roman’s lawyers said in their Friday filing that Ms. Willis has used “inflammatory and dogmatic defensive rhetoric intended to falsely minimize the important claims raised in the motions.”
“In light of the obvious, continued, strategic obfuscation and stonewalling, the adage that ‘the lady doth protest too much, methinks’ rings true,” Mr. Roman’s filing states.
The filing states that Mr. Roman wishes to “shine some sunlight” on the conduct of the Fulton County district attorney and prosecutor in his case and asks the court to allow him to present Mr. Bradley’s testimony at the hearing.
New information was included in the motion regarding Mr. Wade and Ms. Willis’ time spent together. The motion claimed that Mr. Wade funded a minimum of five separate trips together.
Catherine Yang contributed to this report.
