I have a major update to bring you in the motion to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her paramour, special prosecutor Nathan Wade, from the election interference case against former President Donald Trump in Georgia.
Through attorney Phil Holloway, we’ve gotten our hands on 31 pages of texts between attorneys Ashleigh Merchant and Terrence Bradley (i.e. the admissions by Wade’s friend and former lawyer that they did not want you to see).
The Hearing
There was a mind-blowing hearing in Fulton County Superior County on Tuesday afternoon that saw Bradley – Wade’s one-time law partner, divorce attorney, and friend – take the stand. He did not want to be there, and he made that abundantly clear as he obfuscated and did a whole lot of not recalling things. It was downright uncomfortable.
Wade was actually in the courtroom yesterday as Bradley testified. He had tried to stop it from happening at all, but Judge Scott McAfee ruled the testimony must go forward and Bradley had to testify about the Wade-Willis romance and what he knew about it.
Key to this story are texts that Bradley and defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant exchanged over several months in 2023 and early 2024. Merchant is representing Trump co-defendant Michael Roman and is the lawyer who filed the motion to disqualify in January.
The texts show Bradley told Merchant that Willis and Wade’s affair began prior to him being hired to prosecute Trump in November 2021 (something they both denied under oath). But when Bradley took the stand, he seemingly forgot it all. The man might want to check with the doctor because he’s clearly having some early onset dementia.
The Text Messages
Bradley tried to claim in his testimony that he was merely speculating in his messages with Merchant, so we’ll walk you through them and you let you decide.
Here is a portion of text exchanges we received that show Merchant and Bradley texting in September 2023. As you will see, the conversations continued on and off until just last month.
MERCHANT: Any idea who I could get an affidavit from on the affair?
BRADLEY: No…no one would freely burn that bridge
MERCHANT: Ok
MERCHANT: If Chris was asked under oath would he know?
BRADLEY: No
MERCHANT: Wow
MERCHANT: I figured he would
MERCHANT I didn’t expect them to be so careful [laughing face emoji]
BRADLEY: He knows but he won’t admit it
– September 18, 2023, 3:11pm to 5:37pm
The “Chris” Merchant is likely talking about is Wade’s law partner Christopher Campbell. I’m sorry, but this is not how someone who knows nothing about an affair sounds.
Flash forward to January 2024. Before Merchant filed her motion requesting Nathan Wade, Fani Willis, and the entire DA’s office be disqualified from further prosecuting this case, records show she and Bradley further discussed the details of Willis and Wade’s relationship.
MERCHANT: I assume you knew about the trips…. wowowoow
MERCHANT: Insane
MERCHANT: I’m shocked
MERCHANT: Well not really but somewhat
BRADLEY: No I didnt
BRADLEY: When did it happen
MERCHANT: Last trip was this summer
MERCHANT: May or June
BRADLEY: No I didnt know…I was gone by then
BRADLEY: Doesn’t surprise me…they took many trips to Florida
BRADLEY: Texas
MERCHANT: And Napa
BRADLEY: California
BRADLEY: When she moved her daughter there
MERCHANT: I can’t believe they were sooooo carefree
…
MERCHANT: Dang
MERCHANT: They had a full on relationship. Insane
MERCHANT: Just insane
BRADLEY: He went to help her move her
MERCHANT: Why she would hire him is insane
BRADLEY: Yes
MERCHANT: Like just date / don’t hire him.
– January 5, 2024, 9:39am to 9:49am
Just moments later, Bradley divulged a key piece of information regarding when Wade and Willis’ romance began.
MERCHANT: Do you think it started before she hired him?
BRADLEY: Absolutely
BRADLEY: It started when she left the DA’s office and was judge in South Fulton
[Merchant ‘liked’ the message]
BRADLEY: They met at the Municipal court clerk conference.
MERCHANT: That’s what I figured / When he was married
– January 5, 2024, 9:52am to 9:53am
Two hours after that exchange ended, Merchant followed up with Bradley and directly asked him the following:
MERCHANT: Is this accurate? / Upon information and belief, Willis and Wade met while both were serving as Magistrate Judges and began a romantic relationship at that time.
BRADLEY: No Municipal court
MERCHANT: Thank you
BRADLEY: But you can’t put where they met not many people know that
BRADLEY: I might be one of only not even chris campbell
– January 5, 2024, 11:56am to 12:47pm
In following texts, Merchant goes on to assure Bradley that he won’t be involved in the filing and that she received a lot of information from divorce lawyer of Wade’s now-ex-wife.
MERCHANT: I’m almost done with my motion / I’m not filing u til Monday / Go home and sleep:-)
MERCHANT: I can send you a draft / Can’t wait to hear about your trip
BRADLEY: Ok…happy hunting lol
– January 5, 2024, 3:06pm to 3:08pm
There is a sharp contrast the person in these texts and the man we saw on the stand yesterday. This version of Bradley was offering ideas and volunteering information throughout. And when Merchant sent him a draft of her motion on January 6, he responded with just one note.
BRADLEY: I really appreciate you keeping me out but I think you need to add me in the footnote 15 because I had a contract as well that way it doesn’t seem like I was involved
MERCHANT: Ok
BRADLEY: It’s ok…add me to footnote 15 and how much I made
MERCHANT: I took you out / I can add that back!
MERCHANT: Good point
BRADLEY: Yes add it back
MERCHANT: Anything else ? Anything that isn’t accurate?”
BRADLEY: Looks good
– January 6, 2024, 12:02pm to 12:06pm
A few minutes later, Merchant followed up with a question about how Bradley thought Willis and Wade would respond to her filing.
MERCHANT: How will they react to this? / Attack me? Give the stupid no fear or favor speech?
…
BRADLEY: No they will deny it
MERCHANT: No way!
BRADLEY: They won’t attack you
…
MERCHANT: I am shocked she paid him so much / How did they think they wouldn’t get caught!!!
MERCHANT: So careless / Why not just NOT pay nathan? / Lord.
BRADLEY: Arrogance
– January 6, 2024, 12:11pm to 12:43pm
In the texts, Bradley seems very friendly with Merchant. When she admits she is “nervous” in a message on January 8 about this “huge” filing, he told her she is “one of the best lawyers I know” and to “go be great!”
From the looks of it, Bradley is also the person who helped Merchant track down and find Robin Yeartie. As you may recall, Yeartie is the former “good friend” and employee of Willis who testified at the February 16 hearing that the affair started in 2019 and not “early 2022” like the pair claim.
These messages are so telling and the judge has at least some of them. This shows Willis and Wade took the stand and – in my very well-educated opinion – told lies under oath to Judge McAfee, to these lawyers, to Fulton County, and to all of us.
Why the Change of Tune?
Bradley was seemingly afraid on that stand yesterday to tell the truth, but it wasn’t that long ago that he was divulging all of this with zero questioning from Merchant. So the question then becomes: Why the change of tune?
It could be because he is worried about getting in trouble with the bar if he did divulge anything privileged. I could be because he is worried about getting in trouble with Fani Willis, who is the sitting district attorney and whose lawyers cross-examined him about an alleged sexual assault. He denied it, but this woman likes to bring charges with no foundation legally.
It could also be because he was threatened. There have been suggestions that someone in the Wade-Willis sphere may have gotten to Bradley before he testified. That ‘someone’ may be a man named Gabe Banks, an attorney who is reportedly a friend of Nathan Wade. Bradley admits they spoke to one other, and Banks previously told Judge McAfee that he was concerned Bradley might be “emotional” and violating attorney-client privilege.
So, did Banks make a phone call to Bradley saying something like, ‘It sure would be an unfortunate thing if you violate that privilege. Who knows what could happen?’ We don’t know. But I’ll leave you with this. Gabe Banks’ wife, Kyra Banks, is Fani Willis’ chief of staff. You can’t make it up.
You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 733 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.