Trump lawyers fail to wring out testimony from ‘star witness’ in Fani Willis hearing

A frustrated bench of defence attorneys for Donald Trump and his co-defendants in Georgia came up short in a hearing they hoped would extract bombshell evidence in their case to disqualify the district attorney’s office prosecuting them.

Instead, Terrence Bradley said he was only “speculating” about his knowledge of a relationship between Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Nathan Wade, the prosecutor she hired to lead the sprawling election interference case against the former president and his allies.

Mr Wade’s former law partner – and former divorce attorney – was ordered to return to the witness stand on Tuesday after the judge overseeing the case determined that what he could say about their relationship was outside the bounds of attorney-client privilege.

Attorneys for Mr Trump and his co-defendants have argued that Mr Bradley’s testimony could reveal key details about the timeline of Mr Wade’s relationship with Ms Willis, following allegations that she financially benefited from the case by hiring a man with whom she was romantically involved.

If attorneys can substantiate those allegations, and prove that the now-former couple was involved before Ms Willis hired Mr Wade, her entire office could risk disqualification, throwing the case against Mr Trump into jeopardy.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee labelled Mr Bradley a “star witness” for the defence.

But one after another, defence attorneys could only confirm that Mr Bradley had no direct conversations with Mr Wade or proof that his relationship with Ms Willis began more than two years ago.

Closing arguments on the matter are scheduled on Friday,

Ashleigh Merchant, right, an attorney for Trump co-defendant Mike Roman, and her husband