Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ father testified Friday that there was nothing strange about his daughter keeping cash on hand and using it to pay back special prosecutor Nathan Wade for their vacations.
“I’m not trying to be racist, but it’s a Black thing,” John Floyd said during a hearing that will determine if Willis should be disqualified from prosecuting Donald Trump and his associates.
“I was trained, and most Black folks, they hide cash or they keep cash, and I was trained you always keep some cash,” he added. “I gave my daughter her first cash box and told her, ‘Always keep some cash.’”
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Floyd explained his advice on the second day of a hearing before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who is collecting testimony about Willis’ romance with Wade and any potential effect on the Georgia election interference case.
Defense lawyers for Trump and his co-defendants allege that Willis misused her office by engaging in a sexual relationship with Wade, whom she hired on the taxpayers’ dime, and taking vacations with him.
Floyd testified that he did not learn about Willis’ relationship with Wade until it made national headlines seven weeks ago. Wade has testified that he and Willis privately dated from early 2022 to last summer.
During their affair, Wade said, he booked their vacations on his credit cards because Willis would “limit her transactions” for safety reasons. He said Willis would “pay her own way” by giving him cash or paying for things that made the cost of the trip equitable.
In her testimony on Thursday, Willis confirmed that she reimbursed Wade in cash, stating that it was standard for her to have cash handy wherever she “laid her head.”
“When you meet my father, he’s going to tell you as a woman, you should have at least six months in cash at your house at all times,” Willis explained. “I don’t have that much but I’ve always had cash around my house for years.”
Later, she added: “If you’re a woman and you go on a date with a man, you better have $200 so if that man acts up, you can go where you want to go.”
