Trump, 18 co-defendants charged with racketeering in GA.

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Former President Donald Trump on Thursday opposed a request by an Atlanta prosecutor that he stand trial starting Oct. 23 in his Georgia election interference criminal case.

Trump attorney Steve Sadow, in a court filing, also notified a judge that Trump soon will file another motion to sever his case from co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro, who on Wednesday demanded a speedy trial in Fulton County Superior Court.

Sadow said Trump will seek to sever his case from “any other co-defendant who makes a similar request” for a quick trial.

“President Trump further respectfully puts the Court on notice that he requests the Court set a scheduling conference at its earliest convenience so he can be heard on the State’s motions for entry of pretrial scheduling order and to specially set trial,” Sadow wrote.

Later Thursday, Judge Scott McAfee scheduled Chesebro’s trial to begin Oct. 23. No other Trump case defendant will start trial that day.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis earlier Thursday asked McAfee to schedule the trial of Trump, Chesebro and the 17 co-defendants to begin that day.

Willis directly cited Chesebro’s demand for a speedy trial in her filing.

Chesebro’s lawyers, Scott Grubman and Manny Arora, said in a statement to NBC News that their client “will be prepared to move forward with trial for whatever date the Court ultimately sets.”

he DA’s request for a trial in the next two months, at least for Trump and most of the other defendants besides Chesebro, is unlikely to be granted due to the complexity of the case and the large amount of evidence Willis collected over an investigation that began early 2021.

That evidence has yet to be turned over to the defendants

Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), in a letter to Willis, said the “indictment and prosecution implicate substantial federal interests, and the circumstances surrounding your actions raise serious concerns about whether they are politically motivated.” A spokesperson for Willis didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.

Jordan is asking Willis to hand over details on any federal funds the office receives by Sept. 7, as well as communications with the Justice Department — including Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading a federal probe into Trump’s challenges to the 2020 election that’s left the former president facing four separate criminal counts.

“Given the weighty federal interests at stake, the Committee is conducting oversight of this matter to determine whether any legislative reforms are appropriate or necessary. Such reforms could include changes to the federal officer removal statute, immunities for federal officials, the permissible use of federal funds, the authorities of special counsels, and the delineation of prosecutorial authority between federal and local officials,” Jordan wrote in the letter.

Former President Donald Trump has returned to X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, firing off his first message in 2 1/2 years shortly after he surrendered at an Atlanta jail on charges he conspired to overturn his election loss.

He posted a photo of his mug shot and the words, “Election interference. Never surrender!” along with a link to his website, which directs to a fundraising site.

It was Trump's first post since Jan. 8, 2021, when Twitter suspended his account indefinitely, citing fears he would incite additional violence following the deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol building. His account was reinstated last November shorty after Elon Musk took over the company, but Trump had refrained from tweeting, insisting that he was happier on his own Truth Social site, which he launched during the ban.

Donald Trump will be arraigned Sept. 6 in the criminal case where he is accused of conspiring to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, a state court docket showed Monday morning.

The other 18 defendants in the case will be arraigned later that same day in in Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta.

Trump’s arraignment in Atlanta will take place at 9:30 a.m. ET. on Sept. 6 The former president will be asked to enter a plea at that time to the 13 felony charges he faces.

His former lawyer Rudy Giuliani will be arraigned at 9:45 a.m., the court docket shows.

The other 17 defendants in the case, who include Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, other Trump-allied lawyers, and would-be Electoral College voters for Trump, are scheduled to be arraigned starting at 10 a.m.

Steven Sadow, Trump’s attorney in the case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the arraignment.

All 19 defendants in the case surrendered in Atlanta last week to be booked. Eighteen of them were released on bonds of varying amounts.

Just one of them, Harrison Floyd, remains in Fulton County Jail after he was denied release.

Floyd is being kept in custody because, among other things, he did not reach a bond agreement with the district attorney’s office ahead of his surrender.

Like other cult movements, the MAGA phenomenon is rooted in manipulation and psychological abuse. Trump effectively exploits the death anxieties and other existential fears of his followers, presenting himself as their only protector and savior. The MAGA cult is authoritarian, preying on lonely, socially isolated and otherwise vulnerable people and providing them with a sense of order, meaning, community and destiny.

A poll conducted from Aug. 16 to 18 by CBS News/YouGov demonstrates just how firm Trump's power over his followers continues to be. A large majority of Republican voters view Trump as "honest and trustworthy," which would be hilarious if it were not deeply alarming. Furthermore, "Trump's voters hold him as a source of true information, even more so than other sources, including conservative media figures, religious leaders, and even their own friends and family." When asked who they believe tells them the truth, 71% of Trump voters picked him, more than picked friends and family members (63%), right-wing media commentators (56%) and religious leaders (only 42%)

The judge presiding over Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis's racketeering and election interference case against former President Donald Trump and others has set a Feb. 15 hearing date on misconduct allegations against the district attorney.

In a court filing this month, Michael Roman, a co-defendant in the Trump case, alleged Willis was in a "romantic relationship" with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

Roman contends the pair and the DA's office should be disqualified from prosecuting the case and the criminal charges dismissed “on the grounds that the district attorney and the special prosecutor have been engaged in an improper, clandestine personal relationship during the pendency of this case, which has resulted in the special prosecutor, and, in turn, the district attorney, profiting significantly from this prosecution at the expense of the taxpayers.”

"Instead of handling this case within her office, as she could have done," the filing said, Willis "chose to hire a private special prosecutor to preside over the case," and in doing so used the prosecution "to pay her partner a large sum of money."

A spokesperson for the DA’s office said this month that they'd respond to the allegations in a court filing and declined further comment.

In his order Thursday setting a hearing date, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee directed the DA’s office to respond to the motion by Feb. 2.

Roman's filing does not provide direct evidence to support the claims, citing only “sources with knowledge” while raising questions about the process by which Willis hired Wade.

Roman's attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, has told NBC News that some of the evidence could not be shared until Wade’s divorce records are unsealed.

“At a hearing, the concrete evidence would be presented,” she said.

Nathan Wade, the outside special prosecutor appointed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to oversee her criminal racketeering case against Donald Trump, purchased plane tickets for the DA for trips together, according to credit card statements included in a Friday court filing obtained by NBC News.

A co-defendant in the Trump case, Michael Roman, had previously made misconduct accusations against the pair, alleging they had been “engaged in an improper, clandestine personal relationship during the pendency of this case, which has resulted in the special prosecutor, and, in turn, the district attorney, profiting significantly from this prosecution at the expense of the taxpayers.”

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has scheduled a hearing on the allegations for Feb. 15.

The credit card statements showing Wade had purchased tickets for himself and Willis to travel San Francisco and Miami in 2022 and 2023 were attached to a filing by Wade’s estranged wife, Joycelyn Wade, in the couple’s ongoing divorce case in Cobb County, Georgia.

The DA’s office declined to comment on the credit card statements.

A member of Fulton County’s board of commissioners said in a statement Friday that he would pursue a “full investigation” into the allegations that Willis had an improper relationship with Wade.

“Under no circumstances should an elected official contract with or hire someone who they are in a romantic relationship with,” said Commissioner Bob Ellis, adding that in the absence of such a relationship “accepting favors and extravagant gifts from such contractors should also be considered improper.”

Ellis, who serves as chairman of the county’s audit committee, sent a letter to Willis on Friday requesting documents related to the appointment of special prosecutors, and payment and invoices for special prosecutors’ services dating back to Jan. 1, 2021.

In a filing Thursday, Willis had accused Joycelyn Wade of trying to “harass” her and “damage her professional reputation” by subpoenaing her for a deposition in the divorce case. Willis said the wife had “conspired with interested parties in the Criminal Election Interference Case to use the civil discovery process to annoy, embarrass and oppress District Attorney Willis.”

The DA said that the Wades have been living apart since 2021 and have agreed in court filings that their marriage is “irretrievably broken,” and that she does not have any information “that might prove relevant to granting or denying the divorce.”

Joycelyn Wade painted a different picture in her filing, which was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and said Willis has information about her husband’s finances.

She said her husband filed for divorce on Nov. 2, 2021 — a day after Willis appointed him as special prosecutor. Joycelyn Wade said she had been kept in the dark about the appointment, which resulted in “substantial income” for her husband to which she was not privy.

The court filing said Nathan Wade had left her “with little means of financial support while simultaneously spending tens of thousands of dollars per month on a very lavish lifestyle.”

“Since Plaintiff filed for divorce, he has taken trips to San Francisco and Napa Valley, to Florida and even gone on Caribbean cruises, enjoyed a trip to Belize, another to the country of Panama and even just last month took a trip to Australia. The evidence is clear that Ms. Willis was an intended travel partner for at least some of these trips as indicated by flights he purchased for her to accompany him,” the filing said.

The statements show one of the tickets cost almost $900 and the other almost $500.

Roman’s filing suggested Wade and Willis were in a “romantic relationship,” a sentiment echoed in Joycelyn Wade’s filing.

“Defendant seeks to depose Ms. Willis in order to determine details surrounding her romantic affair with Plaintiff, as there appears to be no reasonable explanation for their travels apart from a romantic relationship,” the filing said.

“Contrary to Ms. Willis’s belief, the Defendant is not utilizing the deposition to harass her but rather to seek pertinent information from her husband’s paramour regarding her relationship with Plaintiff and the extent of the Plaintiff’s financial involvement in the same. These answers are relevant to the equitable division of the marital estate, dissipation of marital assets, and the Plaintiff’s capacity to provide spousal support,” it added.

A Cobb County judge has set an emergency hearing for Monday at 11:30 a.m. ET to hear arguments on Willis’ effort to block the subpoena and whether to unseal the divorce records in the case.

Invoices attached to Roman’s court filing last week show Wade has been being paid $250 an hour for his work on the case, and his law firm has been paid at least $550,000 since 2022 for his work on the sprawling 19-defendant case.

The lead prosecutor in the election interference case against former President Donald Trump in Georgia reached a temporary agreement with his wife in their divorce proceedings Tuesday, canceling a court hearing Wednesday where he had been expected to testify about an alleged improper relationship with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

Cobb County Superior Court Judge Henry Thompson said in a court filing that special prosecutor Nathan Wade and his wife, Jocelyn Wade, agreed there was no longer a need for a hearing Wednesday, when Nathan Wade was likely to testify about allegations of a romantic relationship with Willis.

Trump and a co-defendant in the election interference case have cited the allegations of a romantic relationship in their efforts to get the charges against them dismissed.

“The parties, by and through their counsel of record, have entered into a temporary agreement addressing all issues presently before the Court,” Thompson wrote in a court filing Tuesday.

The details of the agreement were not immediately clear, and Thompson noted that the parties "have further agreed that the terms and provisions of this temporary agreement shall not be filed with the Court.”

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Nathan Wade, one of her top prosecutors in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump and 18 others, have been subpoenaed to testify at an upcoming evidentiary hearing set to examine allegations that they were involved in an improper relationship while investigating the former president, according to a new lawsuit filed in Georgia this week.

The claim that Willis and Wade had been subpoenaed to testify was contained in a copy of the lawsuit, obtained by ABC News, that was filed by the attorney for one of Trump's co-defendants in the election case, accusing the Fulton County district attorney's office of "intentionally withholding information."

The lawsuit accuses the office of "stonewalling" the attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, in her efforts to obtain records from the office through public information requests.

The issuing of the subpoenas could set up a high-stakes battle for both Willis and Wade, who have remained virtually silent on the issue but may now have to testify under oath during the televised hearing on Feb. 15, as Trump and other co-defendants seek to use the allegations to have the two removed from the case and the indictment thrown out.

That hearing was scheduled two weeks ago by the judge in the election case. The judge also ordered the office to file their response to the allegations in court by Feb. 2.

In addition, approximately a dozen additional subpoenas have been issued by Merchant, in addition to those issued to Willis and Wade, seeking testimony or documents at the upcoming evidentiary hearing, according to copies of the subpoenas obtained by ABC News.

They include subpoenas to half a dozen employees at the Fulton County DA's office requesting their testimony at the hearing next month.

In her new lawsuit on Tuesday, Merchant's says her requests to the office sought a slew of documents, including contract and invoice records related to Wade, as well as personnel information for attorneys hired by the DA's office throughout Willis' tenure, and vacation time requested by Willis.

According to the Fulton County government's website, the county must produce responses to open records requests "within a reasonable amount of time not to exceed three business days." In some instances when records are not available within three days, the site says, agencies can take longer if they provide a timeline and a description of any relevant records they have.

The Georgia election subversion case against Donald Trump and 14 of his allies took a stunning turn Thursday when two top prosecutors testified under oath about their romantic relationship at a hearing triggered by allegations of self-dealing that have the potential to derail the indictment.

The all-day hearing escalated steadily throughout the day, culminating with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis taking the witness stand for a combative brawl with defense attorneys that drew several rebukes from the judge.

Judge Scott McAfee convened the hearing after some of Trump’s co-defendants surfaced allegations of a relationship between Willis and Nathan Wade, whom she hired in 2021 to join the prosecution team. Trump and his co-defendants want the judge to disqualify Willis’ team from the case – or throw out the charges – because of a possible conflict-of-interest.

There was talk of cash exchanging hands from Willis to Wade, where they store their money at home, CashApp usage, and their spending habits – all to get to the question of whether Willis benefitted financially from putting him on her staff.

The hearing will continue Friday with Willis still on the stand. The judge said he does not plan to issue a ruling on Friday.

Willis’ defiant afternoon on the stand
What unfolded on Thursday is extremely rare in American courtrooms. The district attorney who has charged Trump with racketeering went under oath to defend her ethics and answer personal questions about her relationship with Wade.

The risks could not be greater, and Willis’ credibility is on the line.

Things quickly went off the rails. Willis didn’t act much like a traditional witness and was more like a prosecutor, arguing with the defense attorneys, raising objections, making legal arguments and even having exchanges with the judge. She even raised her voice at one point.

This led to a few rebukes from McAfee, who urged her and other attorneys in the courtroom to maintain “professionalism” and to not “talk over each other.”

Willis repeatedly accused some of the defense attorneys of peddling lies – before and after the judge’s admonishment.

‘I’m not on trial,’ Willis says
Willis seized several opportunities to defend herself.

The district attorney had fought efforts to make her appear, both in Wade’s ongoing divorce proceedings and in the hearing on Thursday, up until the moment she came into the room to take the stand. She said at the beginning of her testimony that she was “very anxious” to defend herself, “so I ran to the courtroom.”

“You think I’m on trial,” Willis said, in her sharpest pushback of the day. “These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020,” she added, pointing toward the table of attorneys representing defendants in the criminal case. “I’m not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial.”

She later slammed the defense attorneys, calling them “confused” and “intrusive.”

“Ms. Merchant’s interests are contrary to democracy, not to mine,” Willis said, attacking the attorney for Trump campaign attorney Michael Roman, who is accused of playing a leading role in the multi-state “fake electors” plot to subvert the Electoral College.

When did the relationship start?
On the stand, Wade stuck to his earlier claim – in a sworn affidavit submitted to the court – that his romantic relationship with Willis began in early 2022 and that they split travel and vacation expenses.

But Robin Bryant-Yeartie, a former friend of Willis and Fulton County employee, contradicted that claim, testifying that she had “no doubt” that the Willis-Wade affair began in late 2019. Notably, that would be before Willis hired Wade to lead the Trump probe in late 2021.

Bryant-Yeartie said she observed “hugging, kissing, close affection” between Willis and Wade prior to 2022, when they claimed their romantic relationship began. She also testified that Willis had told her in 2020 and 2021 that she was dating Wade.

There was some Clinton-esque parsing of words on whether Wade cheated on his ex-wife by being with Willis. Past filings from Roman’s team salaciously noted that she had been dating “a married man.”

Wade testified that his previous marriage was broken since 2015, long before his relationship with Willis began, saying, “My marriage was irretrievably broken” in 2015, and “I was free to have a relationship.”

Wade and Willis describe using cash for reimbursements
Wade and Willis have offered a simple explanation for why there’s essentially no paper trail to back up his claims they split expenses: Willis used cash.

Credit card statements submitted in Wade’s divorce proceedings show he paid for two flights for them in recent years, to San Francisco and Miami. They also took lavish trips to Belize, the Bahamas and some Caribbean cruises.

When pressed on whether he paid for Willis’ travel when they vacationed together, Wade said that Willis reimbursed him for a flight “in cash.” Wade said he did not have receipts for all of the times Willis reimbursed him for trips – pushing back against the allegations from the defense side that Willis was essentially getting kickbacks from him in the form of vacations.

“I did not deposit the cash in my account,” Wade replied, smirking at times.

Defense attorney Craig Gillen, who represents one of the fake electors, grilled Wade on what he would do with the cash reimbursements – in at least one case, thousands of dollars.

“You don’t have a single solitary deposit slip to corroborate or support any of your allegations that you were paid by Ms. Willis in cash?” Gillen shot back, raising his voice slightly.

“No sir,” Wade said, to which Gillen replied: “Not a single solitary one?”

“Not a one,” Wade responded.

Willis: ‘I don’t need anybody to foot my bills’
There was also a dispute over when the relationship ended, and whether it had any impact on the decision to seek the massive RICO indictment against Trump and others in last August.

Both said the relationship ended in summer 2023. Willis implied that the physical component ended earlier in the summer, but that the two had a “tough conversation” that fully ended things afterward.

Trump lawyer Steven Sadow asked Willis about the breakup, eliciting an answer that revealed sexist remarks that Wade allegedly made to Willis in the past. She said, he “is used to women that, as he told me one time, ‘the only thing a woman can do for him is make him a sandwich.’” She explained that this was a part of their breakup – but it also was a defense to the self-dealing claims against her.

“We would have brutal arguments about the fact that ‘I am your equal,’” Willis said. “I don’t need anything from a man – a man is not a plan. A man is a companion. And so there was tension always in our relationship, which is why I would give him his money back.”

Willis added, “I don’t need anybody to foot my bills.”

Earlier, Sadow asked Wade during his own testimony whether the two had any “personal relationship at all” since their relationship ended, saying “and you know what I mean by that.”

Wade shot back, asking if Sadow meant “if I had intercourse with the district attorney.”

“We’re very good friends, probably closer than ever because of these attacks,” Wade said. “But if you’re asking me about specific intercourse, the answer is no.”

Huge distraction from the charges against Trump – for now
Nothing that happened Thursday undercut the factual allegations against Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, or the other GOP allies who are accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election.

But the hearing shifted the conversation away from those allegation and away from Trump’s legal woes for now.

The father of Fani Willis, the top prosecutor in the Georgia election case against Donald Trump, was called to testify at a hearing on Friday.

He was asked about a relationship Ms Willis had with a special prosecutor on the case, as a judge weighed whether she should be removed for misconduct.

John Floyd said his daughter dated a disc jockey from 2019 to 2020, and not the special prosecutor, Nathan Wade.

He also said she had to move out of her house after receiving threats in 2021.

One of Mr Trump's many co-defendants in the case, Mike Roman, has alleged that Ms Willis financially benefited from her relationship with Mr Wade.

For two days, the judge in the case has heard about the relationship in detail, including how Ms Willis spent her 50th birthday and how she does not use cheques, to determine the truth of those allegations and also if they amount to misconduct.

Judge Scott McAfee has said he could disqualify Ms Willis from the case if evidence supports Mr Roman's claims.

Because a new team would have to take over the prosecution, her removal could delay proceedings against Mr Trump for months, possibly until after November's presidential election where he is expected to be the Republican nominee..

He told the Fulton County courtroom that he would see her disc jockey boyfriend "sometimes every day".

He chuckled as he recalled cleaning up behind the boyfriend, who he said would leave music "paraphernalia" around his daughter's home.

Mr Floyd said he lived with Ms Willis in her south Fulton County home from 2019 until December 2022.

He told lawyers he never met Mr Wade, who Ms Willis was accused of having a relationship with until 2023.

"I just found out when other folks found out," he said.

This evidence contradicted testimony given on Thursday by Robin Bryant-Yeartie, a former friend and employee of Ms Willis, who said they started dating before the Trump case.

Ms Yeartie told the court she saw the pair hugging and kissing years before, and that she had "no doubt" the relationship started in 2019.

The timeline is important to establishing how much the relationship affected the case

Lawyers have alleged that Mr Wade paid her expenses on lavish vacations, including to Aruba and Belize.

Both Ms Willis and Mr Wade acknowledged the relationship in early February, but denied any conflict of interest or financial impropriety.

Ms Willis has said she paid Mr Wade back for expenses with cash kept in her home.

After Ms Willis moved out as a safety precaution, Mr Floyd said "they put a police car in front of her house permanently" and brought police dogs "that would circle the house searching for bombs".

Ms Willis opted out of taking the witness stand again on Friday.

A Georgia judge ruled Friday that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should not be disqualified from prosecuting the racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and several co-defendants — with one major condition.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee found the "appearance of impropriety" brought about by Willis' romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade should result in either Willis and her office leaving the case — or just Wade, whom she'd appointed to head the case.

The choice is likely to be an easy one: If Willis were to remove herself, the case would come to a halt, but having Wade leave will ensure the case continues without further delay.

Trump attorney Steve Sadow said in a statement that, “While respecting the Court’s decision, we believe that the Court did not afford appropriate significance to the prosecutorial misconduct of Willis and Wade.”

“We will use all legal options available as we continue to fight to end this case, which should never have been brought in the first place,” he added.

The judge found there was no "actual conflict" brought about by the relationship, a finding that would have required Willis to be disqualified. "Without sufficient evidence that the District Attorney acquired a personal stake in the prosecution, or that her financial arrangements had any impact on the case, the Defendants’ claims of an actual conflict must be denied," the judge wrote.

“This finding is by no means an indication that the Court condones this tremendous lapse in judgment or the unprofessional manner of the District Attorney’s testimony during the evidentiary hearing. Rather, it is the undersigned’s opinion that Georgia law does not permit the finding of an actual conflict for simply making bad choices — even repeatedly — and it is the trial court’s duty to confine itself to the relevant issues and applicable law properly brought before it,” he added.

The judge did, however, also find “the prosecution is encumbered by an appearance of impropriety.”

“As the case moves forward, reasonable members of the public could easily be left to wonder whether the financial exchanges have continued resulting in some form of benefit to the District Attorney, or even whether the romantic relationship has resumed,” he wrote. “As long as Wade remains on the case, this unnecessary perception will persist.”

McAfee also suggested he was skeptical about Willis and Wade's testimony that they did not start dating until after he was appointed to the case. He said "reasonable questions about whether the District Attorney and her hand-selected lead SADA (Special Assistant District Attorney) testified untruthfully about the timing of their relationship further underpin the finding of an appearance of impropriety and the need to make proportional efforts to cure it."

The decision is a partial victory for Willis and leaves open the possibility the case could be tried before the 2024 presidential election. Had Willis been disqualified outright, the case would have had to go to a different prosecutor, who would be tasked with catching up on a case that Willis spent over two years building.

In his ruling, McAfee questioned Willis' judgment.

"Even if the romantic relationship began after SADA Wade’s initial contract in November 2021, the District Attorney chose to continue supervising and paying Wade while maintaining such a relationship. She further allowed the regular and loose exchange of money between them without any exact or verifiable measure of reconciliation. This lack of a confirmed financial split creates the possibility and appearance that the District Attorney benefited — albeit non-materially — from a contract whose award lay solely within her purview and policing," he wrote.

He also questioned some of Wade's testimony about why he had claimed he hadn't been in a romantic relationship with anyone else in a court filing in his ongoing divorce case. "Wade’s patently unpersuasive explanation for the inaccurate interrogatories he submitted in his pending divorce indicates a willingness on his part to wrongly conceal his relationship with the District Attorney," McAfee wrote.

Lawyers for Roman had brought in two witnesses to back their claims about the timing of Willis and Wade's relationship, including a former friend of Willis’ named Robin Yeartie and Wade's former law partner and divorce lawyer, Terrence Bradley.

The judge found while Yeartie's testimony "raised doubts about the State’s assertions, it ultimately lacked context and detail." As for Bradley, who Roman lawyer Ashleigh Merchant has said was the source of their misconduct claims, the judge said he was "unable to place any stock" in his testimony.

"His inconsistencies, demeanor, and generally non-responsive answers left far too brittle a foundation upon which to build any conclusions," the judge wrote.

Bradley had told Merchant in a text message that Wade and Willis' relationship had "absolutely" started before Wade's appointment, but testified on the witness stand he'd just been speculating.

The judge said "neither side was able to conclusively establish by a preponderance of the evidence when the relationship evolved into a romantic one," but "an odor of mendacity remains."

He also criticized a speech Willis delivered at Big Bethel AME Church in mid-January, after Roman had filed his disqualification motion. In the speech, she criticized an unnamed "they" who were "attacking" the lone Black special prosecutor she'd appointed to the case — Wade, who she did not name either.

Willis "ascribed the effort as motivated by 'playing the race card.' She went on to frequently refer to SADA Wade as the 'black man' while her other unchallenged SADAs were labeled 'one white woman' and 'one white man.' The effect of this speech was to cast racial aspersions at an indicted Defendant’s decision to file this pretrial motion," McAfee wrote.

Attorneys for Roman and Trump had argued the comments were made to taint the potential jury pool for the case, and were also grounds for disqualification.

McAfee said he "cannot find that this speech crossed the line to the point where the Defendants have been denied the opportunity for a fundamentally fair trial, or that it requires the District Attorney’s disqualification. But it was still legally improper. Providing this type of public comment creates dangerous waters for the District Attorney to wade further into."

A judge on Wednesday gave former President Donald Trump and eight of his co-defendants permission to appeal the order allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to remain on the Georgia election interference case despite their allegations of misconduct.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee granted a certificate of immediate review, citing Trump and his co-defendants’ argument that McAfee’s decision to keep Willis on the case "is of such importance to the case that immediate review should be had."

The defendants could not directly appeal McAfee’s decision at this point in the case, so they had asked him to approve a “certificate of immediate review," which would put the matter before an appeals court. The ruling gives the state Court of Appeals 45 days to decide whether to hear Trump’s appeal of McAfee’s order once the appeal is filed. The attorneys have 10 days to file the appeal.

If the appeals court agrees to hear the appeal and then decides to disqualify Willis, that would upend and delay the sprawling prosecution for at least months while a new prosecutor is selected to take over the case.

McAfee said in his ruling that he plans to continue with the case as normal unless he hears otherwise from the appeals court, which could also simply decide not to hear the appeal.

A Georgia judge on Thursday denied a bid by former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants in the state election interference case to dismiss the charges on First Amendment grounds.

In a 14-page ruling, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said their right to protest the results of the 2020 presidential election did not protect them from the charges that District Attorney Fani Willis's office brought.

The "Court finds these vital constitutional protections do not reach the actions and statements alleged by the State," McAfee wrote, and their motions to dismiss are "therefore denied."

McAfee noted in his ruling that during oral argument, "the Defendants posited that the speech at issue, even if false, was political and that one cannot be prosecuted for falsity alone."

The judge said that's not what prosecutors had done in this case, and pointed to allegations that the defendants tried to certify "alternate" presidential electors and knowingly made bogus claims in state proceedings and in court as part of an attempt to overturn the results of the state's election, which Joe Biden had won.

"The State has alleged more than mere expressions of a political nature. Rather, the indictment charges the Defendants with knowingly and willfully making false statements to public officers and knowingly and willfully filing documents containing false statements and misrepresentations within the jurisdiction of state departments and agencies," the judge wrote.