Defense attorneys ID potential new witnesses in Fulton County DA removal fight
ATLANTA — Defendants in the Fulton County election interference case say they have two new witnesses who can raise additional questions about whether Nathan Wade’s law partner was truthful when he testified last month about the special prosecutor’s romantic relationship with District Attorney Fani Willis.
Both of the potential witnesses are attorneys who say they spoke separately with Terrence Bradley last fall. The defense said Cindi Lee Yeager and Manny Arora can testify that Bradley told them that Wade and Willis were romantically involved in 2019 and 2020, far earlier than the former couple testified to in court.
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That is similar to what Bradley said in text messages to defense lawyer Ashleigh Merchant. But when he testified last month, Bradley said he didn’t know when Willis and Wade began dating and that he was speculating in his texts with Merchant.
Yeager is a co-chief deputy DA in Cobb County. Arora is a defense attorney who represents Kenneth Chesebro, a defendant in the election case who struck a plea deal with prosecutors in October.
A spokesman for the Fulton DA’s office said, “In keeping with ethical rules, we can only respond in a filing with the court, which we intend to do.”
Over the last two months, attorneys for nine of the remaining 15 defendants have been pushing to remove Willis and the entire Fulton DA’s office from the high-profile racketeering case against former president Donald Trump and his allies. They are arguing that Willis financially benefitted from her romantic relationship with Wade, which has created a disqualifying conflict of interest.
Prosecutors said they have done nothing wrong. They testified the relationship began in spring 2022, after Willis hired Wade, and they roughly split the costs for their travel together, two points defense attorneys have contested. The two said they ended their romantic relationship last summer.
It’s unclear whether Yeager and Arora’s testimony, which at this point is unsworn, will be admitted into evidence. At a hearing on Friday, Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said he was done hearing evidence on the matter.
