Terrence Bradley, a former law partner of Fulton County Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade, testified on Tuesday that he has “no personal knowledge” as to when Wade and Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis began dating.
“I do not have knowledge of it starting, or when it started,” Bradley said under questioning by attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who is representing former Trump campaign official Michael Roman in the sprawling criminal election interference case.
Merchant hammered away at Bradley, asking him question after question about things she claimed he had told her previously—and floated one particularly salacious tidbit regarding Wade and Willis during her stint in private practice about which Bradley claimed ignorance.
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“He told you they had sex at [her] office, correct?” Merchant asked.
“I don’t recall him saying that, no,” Bradley replied.
Merchant threw the ongoing state racketeering prosecution of former President Donald Trump and his 19 co-defendants into turmoil last month by filing court documents claiming Willis and Wade were carrying on a “clandestine” and “improper” affair and that the case should be dismissed due to resultant conflicts of interest. She alleged, among other things, that Willis was already dating Wade when she hired him to lead the Trump investigation, which Willis has adamantly disputed. Wade accepted the appointment in November 2021, after Willis’ first picks, former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes and ex-federal prosecutor Gabe Banks, declined the job.
Willis and Wade later acknowledged they were indeed in a relationship but argued that it had no bearing on their handling of the case.
Defense lawyers are now asking Judge Scott McAfee to disqualify Willis from continuing her involvement in the case.
Bradley argued throughout Tuesday’s hearing that he “never witnessed anything,” and that anything he said to Merchant, including when she asked him to fact-check her motion to dismiss in early January, had been “speculation.”
Merchant lobbed rapid-fire questions at Bradley, who handled Wade’s recent divorce, pressing him to provide specifics about the timeline of Wade’s romantic relationship with Willis, drawing repeated objections from prosecutors. At the outset of the hearing, McAfee said that Bradley and Wade had not established that attorney-client privilege prohibited Bradley from answering questions about his client’s personal ties with Willis.
“What did Nathan Wade tell you about the relationship?” Merchant asked Bradley.
“I recall him stating that at some point they were dating,” Bradley testified. “I can’t tell you what date that was. It was made in confidence. We were in the back of our office… There was no one else present. That is all I can tell you at this time.”
“You only had a conversation with him one time about the relationship?” Merchant asked. “Any other time that he mentioned that they were in a relationship?”
“No.”
Bradley said he couldn’t recall how the subject came up, telling Merchant, “I can’t tell you what we were discussing prior to that.”
Merchant described Bradley in a prior court filing as having “non-privileged, personal knowledge” about the relationship between Willis and Wade that would prove it started before Willis became Fulton DA in January 2021. Wade has said he and Willis did not start dating until 2022. Bradley, who is considered a star witness for the defense, clearly did not want to be on the witness stand, and said so during his testimony. He left the law firm where he previously worked with Wade following an accusation of sexual assault.
An hour after the hearing started, Merchant wrapped up her questioning of Bradley, reminding him that he was under oath and asking if he wanted to correct any of his testimony.
“No,” he said, “I’ve told you everything, [and] I’ve answered everything that you asked.”
