Trump DA Fani Willis' credibility has been shot over messy testimony — but perjury charges are very unlikely: legal experts

• DA Fani Willis' credibility has been damaged following a misconduct hearing, legal experts said.
• The hearing related to the romance of Willis and the man she hired to lead the Georgia case against Donald Trump.
• Despite questionable testimony, possible perjury charges are very unlikely, said the experts. 

In fiery, emotional testimony, the Georgia district attorney prosecuting Trump and his allies on election interference charges defended her romantic relationship with the lawyer she hired to lead the probe — insisting they didn't start dating until after she appointed him in 2021.

Two witnesses who testified last month during a days-long evidentiary hearing on the matter have cast doubt on Fulton County DA Fani Willis' story — making it clear that someone is lying under oath.

Despite the conflicting stories, though, the likelihood Willis or anyone else involved in the case will ever face perjury charges over their testimony is slim to none, two legal experts told Business Insider.

"It's possible, but unlikely unless there's something that is more of a smoking gun," Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor in California, said of potential perjury charges.

Rahmani, the president and cofounder of West Coast Trial Lawyers, said there's "plenty of evidence" that shows Willis and Wade could have lied on the witness stand during the hearing, but said it's probably not enough to support a potential prosecution on perjury charges.

"You don't want to file charges unless you're pretty confident you can get a conviction," said Rahmani, who noted that, when it comes to Willis, it would be up to the Georgia state attorney general to bring those charges.

No matter what, though, Ashleigh Merchant, a lawyer for Trump codefendant Mike Roman, successfully struck a blow to Willis' credibility by having her dragged into a hearing over a potential conflict of interest in the case, according to legal experts.

Willis' private life was put on trial

The evidentiary hearing, which kicked off on February 15, revolved around allegations that Willis financially benefited from her romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the Atlanta lawyer she hired to lead the probe into Trump and his allies' efforts to overturn the former president's Georgia loss during the 2020 presidential election.

When their relationship began — and if it was before Willis hired Wade — was central to the hearing.

During the hearing, a former friend to Willis and DA office employee said she had "no doubt" their relationship began before Wade was hired in 2021.

The hearing also surfaced text messages in which Wade's former divorce attorney and business partner said the couple "absolutely" started dating before 2021.

While the hearing wrapped up last Friday, defense attorneys for codefendants in the election case said in new court filings Monday that two more witnesses would be able to offer additional testimony contradicting claims about the timing of the relationship.

A motion initially filed by Merchant, which seeks to disqualify Willis from the case, alleged that Willis benefited financially through lavish trips paid for by Wade. Attorneys for Trump and other codefendants have joined in on the motion.

Willis' 'credibility is shot'

Legal experts have long said that the hearing, and the relationship between Willis and Wade, doesn't look good for Willis. Largely, though, most have doubted the relationship rose to a true conflict of interest that would have any relevant impact on Trump's prosecution.

Sarah Krissoff, a former Manhattan federal prosecutor and defense attorney with the law firm Cozen O'Connor, told Business Insider that she doesn't see potential perjury charges on the horizon for Willis.

"It would be difficult to bring any such charges given the nature of the dispute, and the fuzziness of the testimony," said Krissoff.

Still, both Rahmani and Krissoff agreed that Willis' credibility has taken a substantial hit following the hearing.

Rahmani said the distraction of it all is enough that Willis should recuse herself from the Trump case.

"Her credibility is shot," Rahmani said of Willis, adding that the district attorney should "absolutely" step down from the election interference case even if Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee rules that she should not be disqualified from the case.

Willis' relationship with Wade has "cast a cloud over the proceedings" and "the appearance of impropriety is enough for her to voluntarily remove herself from the case," said Rahmani.

"You're already handling probably one of the most politicized trials in American history," Rahmani said. "It's unnecessary distraction. Frankly, it's a circus."

Krissoff called the ordeal "a complete mess," and said it's "difficult to imagine" the Georgia election interference case moving forward with Willis "at the helm, given the accusations and the reality of her relationship with the prosecutor, regardless of when it began."

"It will be hard for her to right herself in this storm," said Krissoff. "No matter the outcome of the disqualification hearing, the relationship undermines the underlying case by creating an appearance of impropriety, even if there wasn't any. It is hard to recover from that."

Krissoff said that she expects many close to Willis are advising her to resign from the case.

"Even if she steps down, there is a risk that the relationship threatens the continuation of the case," said Krissoff. "And even if the judge decides not to disqualify her, I expect the issue will ultimately be reviewed by an appellate court in some context."

Willis' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Business Insider on Wednesday.

Judge Scott McAfee will soon decide whether Willis should be disqualified from the election case

Last Friday, after closing arguments in the misconduct hearing, McAfee said he would rule within two weeks whether Willis should be removed from the election interference case.

Over the course of the hearing, the judge heard from witnesses who included Willis, her former friend, her father, Wade, and Wade's former divorce attorney.

Willis' ex-friend testified that Wade and Willis began dating shortly after they met in 2019, years before she hired him in November 2021 for the Trump case.

Wade's ex-law partner and divorce attorney, Terrence Bradley, acknowledged in testimony that he previously said in texts to Merchant that he believed Willis "absolutely" started dating Wade before she hired him to lead the case against Trump and his allies.

However, under questioning, Bradley said he was only "speculating" about the timing of Willis and Wade's relationship and that he had no personal knowledge of when Willis and Wade's relationship actually began.

Wade and Willis both testified they didn't begin dating until early 2022, when they were already working together, and that they stopped dating last summer. On trips they took together, Willis and Wade testified that Willis paid Wade back for her portion in cash.

Defense attorneys in election case say they can offer up more witnesses to bolster their arguments

This week, defense attorneys in the election interference case said in two separate court filings that they can offer up two additional witnesses — lawyer Manny Arora and Cindi Lee Yeager, a deputy district attorney Cobb County, Georgia — who they say can provide testimony that would directly contradict Bradley's testimony.

Lawyers for Trump codefendant David Shafer said in one filing that Yeager had numerous conversations with Bradley between August 2023 and January and that Bradley told Yeager that Willis and Wade met in 2019 and started dating "at or around this time."

Bradley told Yeager that Wade had "definitively begun a romantic relationship with Ms. Willis during the time that Ms. Willis was running for District Attorney in 2019 through 2020," the court filing says.

Additionally, the filing says that Yeager overheard a call between Willis and Bradley in September 2023.

"District Attorney Willis was calling Mr. Bradley in response to an article that was published about how much money Mr. Wade and his law partners had been paid in this case. Ms. Yeager heard District Attorney Willis tell Mr. Bradley: 'They are coming after us. You don't need to talk to them about anything about us,'" the filing says.

Attorneys for Trump codefendant Cathleen Latham said in another filing this week that Arora — who represented Kenneth Chesebro, who has pleaded guilty in the election case — had multiple conversations with Bradley between September 2023 and October 2023 about Willis and Wade's relationship.

During those conversations, Bradley told Arora that Wade had "definitely begun a romantic relationship with Ms. Willis during the time that Ms. Willis was running for District Attorney in 2019 through 2020," the court filing says.

Bradley, Yeager, and Arora did not immediately return requests for comment on Wednesday.

McAfee has not ruled on whether he will reopen the evidentiary hearing to allow for more testimony in the matter.

Adam Abbate, a prosecutor with Willis' office, argued in his closing arguments last week that the defense attorneys had to show an "actual" conflict of interest, and failed to do so.

"It's a desperate attempt to remove a prosecutor from a case for absolutely no reason, your honor, other than harassment and embarrassment," Abbate said.