Tonight in Georgia, the allegations against Fulton County District Attorney
Fonnie Willis that have threatened to derail the Georgia election
interference case against Donald Trump are spilling over from the
courthouse
to the State House. You will please raise your right
hand
taking center stage. Ashley Merchant,
the defense attorney leading the charge to have Willis removed
from the case after Merchant alleged the DA
financially benefited from a personal relationship with special prosecutor Nathan
Wade.
I've been a criminal defense attorney for 20 years.
Today Merchant spoke before a Republican LED state Senate committee
and,
not bound by the rules of the courtroom,
revealed new details about her early conversations with Terrence Bradley,
Wade's former law partner and divorce attorney turned reluctant witness.
We met for about an hour,
said that they had been they had been together.
They met at this conference.
Nathan was still married
and he, Mr. Bradley, was upset because of what happened
in the divorce.
He was upset because they were still married.
You know, the Wades were still married,
and he essentially just left her after meeting Miss Willis
and dropping the kids off at college.
During his courtroom testimony last week,
Bradley denied any direct knowledge of when the relationship began.
Today, Merchant told lawmakers it was Bradley who first reached
out to her with details.
He did not like the way he had treated his
wife.
He didn't like what was happening in the divorce proceeding.
Yes. And I mean, I remember specifically him saying,
you know, I handle my business,
things like that. Like, you know,
that I I don't leave my wife without alimony.
Both Willis and Wade have denied any wrongdoing,
saying their relationship began after Wade was hired by the
DA's office.
Today's panel has no power to punish Willis and no
bearing on the court case itself or the motion to
remove her from prosecution.
Republicans say the committee has a duty to investigate.
Or do you anticipate a subpoena of Bonnie Willis
and Nathan Wade? I would expect that Bonnie Willis ought
to want to testify voluntarily.
We would welcome her to come as we progress.
We'll probably do that. But if we find it necessary
to subpoena her, if she's unwilling to come voluntarily,
then we very well might.
But Democrats call the entire process politically motivated.
We just spent four hours on something we have nothing
even to do with.
Quite frankly. We ought to be talking about issues that
actually matter.
And we're not doing that right now.
We're wasting time here, quite frankly.
And I'm this is a Fulton County issue.
Let them handle that today.
Willis, also at the state Capitol to qualify to run
for re election,
said this about the committee.
I think that people are angry because I'm going to
do the right thing and I'm going to stand up
for justice no matter who is the person that
may have done wrong in court County.
And so they can continue on with their games.
And I'm going to continue to do the work of
the people
Blaine joins us tonight from Atlanta.
So Blaine, to reiterate this committee hearing we just saw
there in your piece,
it's completely separate from the hearing we all watch play
out over the last couple of weeks where Willis testified.
So what power does this state Senate actually have on
the election interference case?
A very little, Tom, on the case itself,
none. But on the issue of what to do if
they find any issues or impropriety with Fonnie Willis,
they have two options. They can either refer this case
to another body or they can recommend new laws to
sort of curb something like this in the future.
Now what we are, of course,
watching very closely is what's happening a couple of blocks
away at the Fulton County Courthouse.
That's where we're waiting on Judge Scott McAfee to decide
whether or not Fonnie Willis can remain the prosecutor on
this case.
He has said that he plans to make a decision
on that
next Friday.