(15 Feb 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
POOL
Atlanta --- 15 February 2024
1. Wide of courtroom
2. Robin Yeartie, via Zoom, raising her hand and taking the oath
3. Cutaway of Zoom screen
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Robin Yeartie, witness, answering questions from Trump lead attorney Steve Sadow:
STEVE SADOW: "Are you certain that Ms. Wade told you, I'm sorry Ms. Willis, told you about a romantic relationship with Mr. Wade prior to November 1st of 2021?
ROBIN YEARTIE: "Yes. "
STEVE SADOW: "Now, did you also have observations of Mr. Wade and Ms. Willis together prior to November 1st of 2021? "
ROBIN YEARTIE: "Yes."
STEVE SADOW: "And those those observations, were those in a social setting?"
ROBIN YEARTIE: "Yes. "
STEVE SADOW: "And did you observe them do things that are common among people having a romantic relationship?"
ROBIN YEARTIE: "Yes. "
STEVE SADOW: "Such as? Can you give us an example?"
ROBIN YEARTIE: "Hugging, kissing, just affection."
5. Cutaway of courtroom
6. Tight of woman, changing to wide
STORYLINE:
A former friend and co-worker of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testified Thursday that Willis’ personal relationship with a special prosecutor began before he was hired in the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump,
Robin Yeartie’s testimony directly contradicts statements from Willis and Wade that their personal relationship didn't begin until after Wade was hired in November 2021. Wade, who took the witness stand after Yeartie, testified that his relationship with Willis began in early 2022, years after they met at a conference when they were both judges.
Yeartie was called to testify in a hearing to determine whether Willis should be removed from the case accusing Trump and others of conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.
Yeartie, who previously worked in the district attorney's office, testified that she saw Wade and Willis hugging and kissing prior to November 2021.
In a court filing earlier this month, Willis and Wade acknowledged a “personal relationship” but said it had not resulted in any direct or indirect financial benefit to the district attorney. In a sworn statement attached to the filing, Wade said the relationship began in 2022, after he was hired as special prosecutor, and that he and Willis shared travel expenses and never lived together.
Willis' removal would be a stunning development in the most sprawling of the four criminal cases against Trump. An additional delay would likely lessen the chance that a trial would be held before the November election, when he is expected to be the Republican nominee for president.
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