What we know about the relationship between Trump’s accusers

The allegations of a romance between Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis and Nathan J. Wade first emerged in a January filing by Ashleigh Merchant, an attorney for Michael Roman, one of the co-defendants in former President Donald J. Trump. Georgia.

In her filing, Ms. Merchant said that Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade, whom she hired to handle the Trump case, had “personally benefited from this prosecution” at taxpayer expense. Ms Merchant also said Mr Wade was underqualified and argued the entire complaint should be dismissed.

A flurry of lawsuits followed, as well as a number of dramatic publicly televised hearings that had little to do with the indictment accusing Trump and some of his allies of conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss.

Defense lawyers argued that Ms. Willis had engaged in “self-dealing” by hiring Mr. Wade to lead Trump’s prosecution and then taking a vacation with him that he had paid for, at least in part. Defense lawyers also accused Mr. Wade and Ms. Willis of lying to the court about some details of their relationship, including when it began.

In February, Ms. Willis herself took the witness stand, where in fiery testimony she accused Ms. Merchant of lying and described the disqualification efforts as an attempt to distract the American public from her case against Mr. Trump.

“You think I’m on trial,” Mrs. Willis said to Mrs. Merchant. Looking at the defense table, she added, “These people are on trial because they tried to steal an election.”

She acknowledged the existence of a romantic relationship, but she said it began in 2022, after Mr. Wade began working for the District Attorney’s Office, and that the physical element of the relationship ended before charges were filed in August.

She also insisted she paid for about half of the holidays, often reimbursing Mr Wade in cash.

During the hearings, Steven H. Sadow, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, attacked not only the romance and travel but also a speech that Ms. Willis, who is black, gave at an Atlanta church. In the speech, she suggested that racism motivated critics who scrutinized her hiring of Mr. Wade, who is also black, and his qualifications.

Mr. Sadow argued that the speech “created a high likelihood of substantial prejudice against the defendants in the eyes of the public in general, and prospective jurors in Fulton County in particular.”

During three hearings last month, lawyers heard not only from Ms. Willis, but also from Mr. Wade and his former attorney and divorce lawyer Terrence Bradley. Mr. Bradley was labeled by lawyers as someone who could establish that the romance began before Ms. Willis hired Mr. Wade.

But the information he offered was muddled. A text message was entered into evidence in which Mr Bradley told Ms Merchant he “absolutely” believed the romance predated Mr Wade’s recruitment. But on the stand, Mr Bradley said he had no information about the beginning of the relationship, and that he had been speculating when he texted Ms Merchant.