The Fulton County district attorney made a public appearance on Feb. 17.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis issued a public statement over the recent weekend for the first time after testifying in Fulton County Superior Court regarding her relationship with her special prosecutor involved in the Georgia case against former President Donald Trump.
On Feb. 17, she accepted a “Black History Achievement Award” at the Atlanta Berean Church, two days after she took a combative stance during questioning from lawyers about whether she accepted vacation payments from special prosecutor Nathan Wade and about the nature of their relationship. She made a vague reference to the case and the allegations against her.
“So when I was invited here, it was really heartwarming, because to me, this is family, because family helps you when you’re up and when you’re down,” she said. “There are things going on recently that I won’t talk about, but everybody did not embrace me during those times, and Berean has continued to embrace me.”
In the courtroom, Ms. Willis admitted to engaging in a romantic relationship with Mr. Wade, while he did the same. However, she denied financially benefiting from their relationship.
Trump co-defendant Michael Roman’s lawyers argued that the district attorney engaged in a “personal, romantic relationship” with Mr. Wade, whose law firm has been paid more than $653,000 by her office since he was hired in November 2021. Another witness, identified as a former friend of Ms. Willis, on Feb. 16 claimed that their relationship appeared to have begun in 2019, two years before she claimed it started and before his firm was hired by the district attorney’s office.
Mr. Wade confirmed that he purchased plane tickets and other items, claiming that Ms. Willis paid him back in cash. The pair also admitted to having no receipts and no record of the cash repayments, with Mr. Wade saying he only had credit card statements.
Lawyers for Mr. Roman alleged that Ms. Willis may have broken the law by hiring the special prosecutor and having him paid for vacations. They want the two prosecutors to be ultimately dismissed from the case and the charges dropped.
Ms. Willis’s father, John Floyd, claimed that the use of cash is “a black thing,” although he did not provide many concrete examples.
“I was trained—and most black folks—they hide cash, or they keep cash,” he said.
