and specifically when it started, as we wait for the hearing to begin, cnn's nick valencia and zach cohen are here to fill in the details. nick, you're outside the courthouse. what can you tell us about what we're expecting to see during this hearing? hey there boris and brianna, this is all going to focus and center around what terrence bradley knows about the romantic relationship between fani willis and nathan wade. the judge wants to know everything that terrence bradley knows about when this relationship started and any other details that he can provide. and you remember ashley marie she's the defense attorney that says that a bradley can prove that fani willis and nathan wade weren't being fully truthful about when their relationship began. so what's really interesting about this all is that this allegation started as a claim that fani willis may have financially benefited from hiring nathan wade as the lead prosecutor in this case, but it's now morphinan to whether or not fani willis and nathan wade were telling the truth on the stand when they testified just a couple of weeks ago,

zach cohen for us in atlanta. kristen holmes in new york. running point on a very big day of legal news here at cnn, joining us now to discuss all this, cnn legal analyst michael moore, cnn senior legal analyst, elie honig, cnn senior crime and justice reporter katelyn polantz and cnn political analyst and new york times national politics reporter astead herndon, guys, thanks. so much. kaitlan, i was with you because this new york case was the first one out of the gate arguably changed the trajectory of the republican primary. that's the politics stuff. but on the legal side of things, it's always been kind of framed in a pejorative manner. it's the rank, it's not the big deal. and am i wrong >> right. still a charged case though right. so explain to people people who maybe haven't been paying attention since april what is this case? how big a deal is it? >> it's a former president on trial indicted by a grand jury >> this >> is a situation where it's not just people making accusations about donald trump, how he was running his business, how

cnn national security reporter zach cohen is with us with the latest on all of this. zach? >> reporter: yeah, john, the subpoena from chairman of the house judiciary committee jim jordan is demanding documents related to how willis' office used federal funds, federal grant money, and it is part of a broader investigation into willis and into her office that jim jordan initiated as the investigation into donald trump and his 14 co-defendants in georgia was really ramping up. you know, there is an undeniable political element to this. jim jordan is a close ally to former president donald trump. he has used his chairmanship in part as chairman of house judiciary committee to pursue investigations that are politically advantageous to donald trump. it is the latest example, as you mentioned. it comes as fani willis is facing this deadline in the criminal case to respond to allegations that she had this improper romantic relationship with her top prosecutor and financially benefitted from the relationship. really, you know, another drop in the bucket. this ramping up of pressure

our zach cohen has interesting reporting on this. he joins us this morning.isn't just about a relationship. what it's about is payments, how he was paid, with taxpayer money. she's standing her ground. she's not going anywhere? >> that's exactly right. multiple sources are telling me that fani willis is digging in. she's going to take her chances, argue this in court. it's going to be up to the judge to decide whether or not to disqualify her, and as you mentioned, these are not just allegations about an improper rom romantic relationship. trump and codefendants are saying fani willis improperly used taxpayer dollars to fund vacations for her alleged lover, nathan wade. she's going to have to address these questions in open court. she weighed and several others were subpoenaed to testify publicly on february 15th when there's a hearing about this entire issue. it remains to be seen. as of now, fani willis not voluntarily taking herself out of the game. >> when you say she's going to take her chances. what kind of risk is that? are chances high that everything

cnn's zach cohen joins us now, zach, first of all, how did you get in touch with the winery guy and what did he tell you? >> boris stan. stan, his name is dan brody reached out to cnn after watching the hearing, which was obviously broadcast live. on live stream in atlanta, georgia, and he reached out because when you when the testimony turned to fani willis's habit of using cash and habit of using and storing a lot of cash in your house, it rang a bell in his mind is what he told me. he said that he realized that he had a personal experience with fani willis, with nathan wade that was potentially relevant to what fani willis was saying? in that hearing room and that happened in 2023, according to brody, he said that fani willis and nathan wade came to visit a winery in napa valley and that at the end of the day when the bill was delivered, fani willis not only picked up the check, but paid in cash and so the bill was about $400, which it is a pretty sizable amount to pay in cash, which is what surprise brody at the time and it's what reminded him to reach up and want to put this informa

willis tested the fight that she reimbursed wade for meals and trips cnn's zach cohen is joining us now. so zach, you spoke with the host of a napa winery and it was one that both weight and willis visited. he says he remembers willis paying cash. why is that significant >> yeah. fred, when fani willis took the stand last week, she pushed back on these allegations that she benefited financially from her relationship with nathan wade by arguing that they had a reciprocal relationship and understanding that she would pay for things when they went on these lavish vacations, including a vacation in napa valley. but the problem is there was no paper trail documenting those payments. that's why the my interview with stan brody is important because it does corroborate at least part of fani willis is testimony that there was no paper trail because she used cash cash, and stamp brody remember is when fani willis and nathan wade visited a winery in napa valley in 2023. and when it came time to foot the bill, fani willis pulled out $400 roughly in cash from her purse and paid for both her and wade

>> yes >> now, this is so important right now and bring in zach cohen is a thing right now. is zach. let's reorient for a second where we are and why we're here. if not to watch a bravo housewife i've episode or about salacious details about her romance. it's because there are allegations that fani willis has financially benefited from her relationship with nathan wade at the expensive this case. i think it does her. and what you're hearing testimony today from these when parties about whether and when it started, they say it's hearted after he was already special counsel. right. but the testimony today was about whether it began before, which is very bad. in terms of credibility. >> that's right. and nathan wade did not get putting a corner where he contradicted himself, right during testimony, the lawyers tried to ask him about what maturity said about the fact that the date that she said that he was hired and started relationship with fani willis? that predated what he put it in a sworn affidavit and he never admitted that contradiction, but it did so it was an important

kristen holmes in new york, zach cohen is down in atlanta forest. where in the world as kristen holmes will usually tell me whether we're doing courthouse or campaign in trump world today. today it's courthouse what do we expect? why did he decide to go to this case are to this courthouse specifically >> yeah phil, today is courthouse and it's also freezing and not west palm beach. i just want to note that i'm no longer in west palm beach and i am very aware of that. now, donald trump did choose to go to this tree at trial because he was convinced by his advisers that this was more important. this is a very critical day for the former president because he is likely to learn whether or not he's going to have to sit through a criminal trial during the campaign season ahead of that november 2024 election. now his lawyers are calling on the judge to dismiss this case entirely. they argue that it's political, but i'm told by legal experts that that's not likely to happen. the other crucial thing that we are learning today is whether or not that march 25t

cohen has new reporting on this shoe-leather reporting, and amanda are speaking or shoe leather wine tasting for i don't know how exactly you said, but really good report exact tell us what you've learned here. >> yeah. good morning, guys. looked stand brody told me that he hosted fani willis and nathan wade at acumen winds back in 2023 when they both visited this winery and napa valley, california. and he distinctly remembers the moment the bill came because it was about $400 and fani willis told him that she was going to pay cash which struck him as odd given in the amount, but take a listen to what he told me about his recollection of their visit to this winery and the moment where we're fani willis foot the bill i ran up to saying and i killed her. i was expecting a credit card, quite frankly, and now she's i'll pay cash so that was set. so i just put the cash and may change for and she was very generous to me so why does this matter right in the hearing last week, we saw defense attorneys really pushed willis on her use of cash because >> they're trying to establish that she and

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cohen is here with the details. zack, who collected this new evidence and just how damaging is it? >> it's coming from a private investigator who was working with donald trump's attorneys who are handling his case in georgia and look, it's part of this broader effort to establish that fani willis benefited financially from her relationship with our top prosecutor, nathan wade, and one of the questions leading up to that ultimate question is, when did their romantic relationships start? now, fani willis, nathan wade of both testified that it started in 2022 after he was hired on to the da's team as part of the trump case. the trump's attorneys, steve sadow would this filing day saying, no, we have evidence that may be it started before nathan wade was hired and they're pointing to the cell phone data and what our cell tower pings, right to say that we have located instances when nathan wade was in the area where for fani willis was living at the time, both in september 2021 and november 2021. so obviously that would

cohen. let's bring back into learn more about it. you spoke with this host what did he tell you >> yeah. okay. when fani willis took the stand last week, she argued there was no financial benefit that she received from her relationship with nathan wade because at the end of the day, they effectively split the cost of these vacations that have come out in these allegations against her, and that includes a trip to napa valley in 2023, and that's where my interview with stan brody comes into play here. stan worked at the winery at the time and he hosted fani willis and nathan wade that day. and he said he recalls when the bill came, fani willis not only picked up the check, but she paid in cash almost $400 in cash, which struck him as odd, but take a listen to what he told me about that encounter with bonnie willis and nathan wade last year >> i ran up to saying and i showed her i was expecting a credit card, quite frankly and now she's i'll pay cash. so that was sad. so i just put the cash and