Robin Yeartie, a former friend of Fani Willis, said the district attorney began her romantic relationship with Nathan Wade shortly after they met at a municipal court conference in 2019, when they were both municipal court judges.

She said there’s “no doubt” that the relationship continued until she last spoke with Willis in spring 2022.

Her testimony contradicts a sworn affidavit from Wade earlier this month, where Wade said his romance with Willis didn’t begin until 2022, after he began work on the Trump case.

Yeartie said she met Willis in college in 1990 or 1991, but the two last spoke in March 2022, when she resigned from her job in the District Attorney’s office.

Yeartie testified she saw Willis and Wade hug, kiss and be affectionate before Nov. 2, 2021, when he was hired to work with the Fulton DA’s office.

Under cross-examination, Yeartie acknowledged she left the DA’s office on bad terms. She said she was written up for poor performance once. She confirmed that her departure from the DA’s office ended her friendship with Willis

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Former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan speaks on the third day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. He is running for Georgia governor as a Democrat. (Arvin Temkar/AJC )

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Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

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