Fani Willis' dad testifies in Trump Georgia case

The father of Fani Willis, the top prosecutor in the Georgia election case against Donald Trump, was called to testify at a hearing on Friday.

He was asked about a relationship Ms Willis had with a special prosecutor on the case, as a judge weighed whether she should be removed for misconduct.

John Floyd said his daughter dated a disc jockey from 2019 to 2020, and not the special prosecutor, Nathan Wade.

He also said she had to move out of her house after receiving threats in 2021.

One of Mr Trump's many co-defendants in the case, Mike Roman, has alleged that Ms Willis financially benefited from her relationship with Mr Wade.

For two days, the judge in the case has heard about the relationship in detail, including how Ms Willis spent her 50th birthday and how she does not use cheques, to determine the truth of those allegations and also if they amount to misconduct.

Judge Scott McAfee has said he could disqualify Ms Willis from the case if evidence supports Mr Roman's claims.

Because a new team would have to take over the prosecution, her removal could delay proceedings against Mr Trump for months, possibly until after November's presidential election where he is expected to be the Republican nominee..

Mr Floyd testified Friday morning after his daughter, the first female district attorney for Fulton County, took the stand for most of Thursday with fiery and occasionally confrontational testimony.

He told the Fulton County courtroom that he would see her disc jockey boyfriend "sometimes every day".

He chuckled as he recalled cleaning up behind the boyfriend, who he said would leave music "paraphernalia" around his daughter's home.

Mr Floyd said he lived with Ms Willis in her south Fulton County home from 2019 until December 2022.

He told lawyers he never met Mr Wade, who Ms Willis was accused of having a relationship with until 2023.

"I just found out when other folks found out," he said.

This evidence contradicted testimony given on Thursday by Robin Bryant-Yeartie, a former friend and employee of Ms Willis, who said they started dating before the Trump case.

Ms Yeartie told the court she saw the pair hugging and kissing years before, and that she had "no doubt" the relationship started in 2019.

The timeline is important to establishing how much the relationship affected the case.

Ms Willis charged Mr Trump and 18 co-defendants in August 2023 with conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, after a multi-year investigation.

She had hired Mr Wade in November 2021 as a special prosecutor on the case, the same year she became the county's top prosecutor.

Lawyers have alleged that Mr Wade paid her expenses on lavish vacations, including to Aruba and Belize.

Both Ms Willis and Mr Wade acknowledged the relationship in early February, but denied any conflict of interest or financial impropriety.

Ms Willis has said she paid Mr Wade back for expenses with cash kept in her home.

Mr Floyd told the court that he, too, kept cash in his home, adding that it was a normal habit in black communities.

Lawyers seeking to disqualify Ms Willis repeatedly pressed him about when he lived at her home.

Mr Roman's attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, asked if he was in Georgia "every day that year" for 2019 and 2020.

Mr Floyd said yes, and then recalled the "many death threats" and harassment he said Ms Willis endured shortly after she was sworn in as district attorney in January 2021.

He said police were called to the home in February that year to break up a group of protesters shouting the "b-word" and "n-word".

"I was concerned for her safety," he said.

After Ms Willis moved out as a safety precaution, Mr Floyd said "they put a police car in front of her house permanently" and brought police dogs "that would circle the house searching for bombs".

Ms Willis opted out of taking the witness stand again on Friday.

Experts are divided over whether her dramatic appearance on Thursday, punctuated by forceful statements like "it is a lie, it is a lie", will help Ms Willis's case.