Texts from Nathan Wade lawyer appear to show more than ‘speculation’ about Fani Willis affair
A trove of damning text messages from Nathan Wade’s former divorce attorney seemingly showing his affair with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis started before they claims have finally emerged.
The text exchanges between Terrence Bradley and Ashliegh Merchant — who is representing one of the clients in the Georgia election fraud case which also includes Donald Trump — were revealed in full for the first time on Megyn Kelly’s podcast Wednesday.
“We have gotten our hands on the texts,” Kelly said in opening her show, referring to the 413 message exchange.
“The admissions by Nathan Wade’s friend and former law patner that they did not want you to see,” she added.
In the texts, Bradley calls Willis and Wade “arrogant as f,” calls Merchant his friend and says he trusts her.
“Do you think [the affair] started before she hired him?” Merchant, representing co-defendant Mark Roman, texted Bradley in early January.
“Absolutely,” Bradley responded. “It started when she left the DA’s office and was judge in South Fulton.”
Willis was a judge in South Fulton in 2019, according to a Time Magazine report.
When confronted with this mesage on Tuesday while being grilled on the stand about Willis and Wade’s relationship, Bradely had muttered “Oh, dang” to himself.
However, he spent the rest of the hearing incredibly claiming not to remember basic details about when his former law partner and Willis met and started dating and tried to explain away his messages as mere speculation.
What to know about District Attorney Fani Willis’ trial
- Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis is being accused of misusing state and federal funds, and also engaging in an “improper” relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
- Willis admitted to having a “personal relationship” with Wade, but said it didn’t become romantic until after 2022 due to the case against former President Donald Trump.
- Willis hired Wade to work on the Trump case and paid him $654,000 in 2022, according to Trump co-defendant Michael Roman.
- Trump and his co-defendants are looking to disqualify Willis from the case and to have all charges, centered around the state’s expansive anti-racketeering RICO law, dismissed.
- The defense has presented dozens of pings from Wade’s cellphone that placed it at Willis’ rented condo prior to 2022. A former friend of Willis, who owned the condo, has testified that she saw the two of them “hugging” and “kissing” in 2019.
Trump and his co-defendants are asking to have Willis taken off their case for lying about when she started seeing Wade, who she appointed as special prosecutor in the same case in November 2021.
She and Wade have testified to the court they got together in 2022 and broke up a year later. Merchant and lawyers for Trump have been submitting evidence to show they were actually together much before then.
When asked about a list of other people, including some who worked in the Fulton County DA’s office with Willis who would know about the relationship, Bradley responded: “Subpoena them all.”
Part of the allegations against Willis include that she financially benefited from appointing Wade to the plum role in the Trump case, notably when he paid for her to go on trips with him using cash earned on the job.
Bradley seemed to be aware of these excursions, texting: “They took many trips to Florida…Texas….California,” to Merchant.
Seemingly aware of this travel, “And Napa,” Merchant replied.
Willis and Wade traveled to California when the former’s daughter “flunked out” of college and moved to the state, Bradley added.
“Dang,” Merchant wrote back. “They had a full on relationship.”
Merchant subsequently vowed she would protect Bradley’s identity in the motion she was then about to file which claimed that Wilis and Wade’s relationship represented a conflict of interest in the election fraud case.
When she asked how his Willis and Wade would respond, Bradley suggested that the pair would “deny it” but would not attack Merchant.
Despite his cavalier tone in the text messages, on Tuesday Bradley appeared uncomfortable and tried to backtrack several of his prior comments.
Closing arguments in the hearing to determine if Willis can stay on the case will be heard on Friday.
After that it will be up to judge Scott Mcafee to make a ruling. It remains unclear how much weight will be given to the messages versus what Bradley said in court.
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