Fani Willis and Nathan Wade paid for a wine-tasting session in 2023 using cash, according to a new witness. Stan Brody, who works at Acumen Wines, told CNN that he hosted Willis and a man he later learned was special prosecutor Wade at a two-hour wine tasting in early 2023. Brody said that Willis paid with cash for two bottles of wine, each valued at roughly $150, and for the $50 tasting.
Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, gave evidence in a two-day hearing following accusations by former Trump staffer and co-defendant Michael Roman that she was having an affair with Wade, a special prosecutor she hired in the high-profile case. The hearing, which took place last week, will determine whether Willis is removed from the Trump case. Andrew Weissmann, former general counsel for the FBI, said: “This would’ve been a useful witness for the state to have tracked down.”
During the hearing, the pair were questioned about the lack of receipts they had to show money changing hands. However, Wade testified that Willis paid cash for excursions on at least one vacation and paid him back for plane flights and other travel. “She paid for the excursions so the expenses sort of balanced out,” Wade said.
A series of legal analysts said they did not think Willis would be disqualified from the case. Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney under the Barack Obama administration and MSNBC legal analyst, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that Willis made a terrible decision to date Nathan Wade, and that may bring ethics issues for her. Georgia lawyer Doug Weinstein expressed disappointment in Willis and expected a decision about her removal from the Trump trial in the coming weeks.
