defense attorneys because, again, these charges or this allegation, i should say was brought by michael roman of the co-defendants. trump's attorney was there questioning her. another attorney was there questioning her because some of these other co-defendants had sort of jumped onto this motion that she should be disqualified. chuck, i'm curious to get your take, after all we witnessed yesterday, did fani willis help or hurt herself, and what are you watching for today? >> i agree with charles. i think she helped herself, and by helping herself, more importantly she's helping the district attorney's office and the people of fulton county. that should be her goal, not self-preservation, doing justice to the people she's sworn to serve. >> and the case of course they have before them into election interference. >> cases matter a lot more than she does. this is precisely why, ana, jurors are always told to consider all of the evidence, right? if we had all voted after the first witness, we might have voted one way. if we had all voted after the second witness, we might have voted another way. j

hired on the case, they later developed a personal relationship, but in a response of his own, michael roman says he has witnesses who will testify the relationship actually began before wade's hiring all of it has brought intense scrutiny to the closely watched case against donald trump and to willis herself. mr. trump has also sought to have the charges dismissed and today posting, this scam is totally discredited and over it all comes amid new pressure from congress, where republican congressman jim jordan has subpoenaed willis seeking documents to determine whether she misused federal money, and back in georgia, willis and wade have been subpoenaed to testify on these allegations in two weeks, but willis wants a judge to cancel that hearing and vows to fight the subpoena, calling it an attempt to embarrass and harass her personally lester >> all right, blayne, thank you. >>> in clearwater, florida, investigators are trying to find out why a single engine plane lost power and crashed into a mobile home community causing a big fire and killing three people including the pilot. shortly befo

that is what trump co-defendant michael roman has asked for accusing willis of financially benefitting from a romantic relationship saying, wade used money he earned from the d.a.'s office to pay for vacations together, but in her response, willis today provided her own receipts saying travel was evenly split between the two and arguing wade made more money than the other special prosecutors only because he did much more work. the filing included the sworn affidavit from wade who said while the two were professional associates and friends when he was hired on the case, they later developed a personal relationship. but in a response of his own, michael roman says he has witnesses who will testify the relationship actually began before wade's hiring. all of it has brought intense scrutiny to the closely watched case against donald trump and to willis herself. mr. trump has also sought to have the charges dismissed and today posting, this scam is totally discredited and over. it all comes amid new pressure from congress, where republican congressman jim jordan has subpoenaed willis seekin

the lawyers for michael roman and the other trump defendants are trying to prove that there was somewillis and nathan wade to give him the job so he -- now nathan way can now take her on lavish vacations. to sort of promote that case her to make that case they pointed to a passage in our book where we talk about the financial troubles that fani willis was having after she ran for a judgeship in 2018. they said what this shows was that she was financially destitute when she became dea and so therefore their theory somehow make sense. she's impoverished, and she needs a source of somebody to take around the world. in fact if they read the passage a little more closely we are talking about her financial straits in 2018 after that she got it judgeship that paid to six filmmaker salary, her law practice picked up and at the time she ran for dea she was actually fairly okay, but they didn't read the next few paragraphs of the book that totally undercut the point they are trying to make. >> context is so important. i interviewed her number of times you can york author dan clayman, are you s

. >> that kind of sums up -- former trump white house aide michael roman. he's trying to paint her relationship with wade as a conflict of interest to eventually force willis off the case. will that happen? we don't know. is all of this a huge distraction? of course it is. but it's important to remember that none of what happened in part five changes anything about parts one through four. joining me now is investigative journalist michael -- he's the coauthor of a new book about the georgia case which is called -- rogue president, and the plot to steal an american election. it somehow became a focal point of this week's hearing, which is -- so let me just start there. because it was used in the hearing repeatedly. some of, i've heard you say, is a bit out of context. so give us the context of actually how you talk about her in the book. >> share. surreal moment. i mean, the lawyers for michael roman and the other trump defendants are trying to prove that there was some sort of corrupt bargain between fani willis and nathan wade to give him the job so nathan

and you're right to bring up michael roman.n when donald trump heard about them he is like i'm joining in on this one. and now the judge is going to be hearing all of this and having to follow this love story turned, you know, trump election interference case as well. so certainly something to watch. lexie, thank you for joining us. "fox & friends" starts right now. ♪

but lawyers for trump and co-defendant michael roman say, huh-uh, they've got multiple text messagesump's attorney grilled terence bradley about a text exchange bradley had with ashley merchant, a lawyer for trump co-defendant michael roman where she asked if wade and willis had been involved before she became d.a., and he replied, text back, absolutely. he also acknowledged that at some point wade told him he was dating willis before 2022. what do you think? >> yeah. i think that's very damning evidence because, you know, it goes to the old were you telling the truth then or are you telling the truth now? if it's even more than that. she sent a motion if to exclude the prosecutors from this case to this witness, and he didn't object to it, say that anything was inaccurate in the contents of the filing and, in fact, at the time he was representing someone else in the same case. and so i think it's pretty obvious this judge knows what the truth is and what these, that these witnesses were all a suggesting something that is actually not true and that this relationship does date back to

. >> la fiscal willis le ha pedido al juez scott mcafee que que desecha la mocion de michael roman queue cancele la audiencia programada para el proximo 15 de febrero. >> esta noche familiares de los hermanitos gemelos hallados muertos en un auto en florida este jueves identificaron a los ninos como melindy y melinder de tres anos. >> tambien dijeron que la mujer que cayo desde un puente cercano es su madre, de 42 anos, quienes aseguran que suicidarse, pero permanece en estado critico. >> el papa de los gemelitos dijo que perdio contacto con los ninos un dia antes de esta tragedia. >> cambiamos de tema, le digo, cuidado con el fraude. >> la temporada para declarar los impuestos ya esta en marcha y el servicio de rentas internas o irs por sus siglas en ingles, lanzo una alerta para los contribuyentes de posibles estafas a manos de preparadores de impuestos. >> erika flores tiene recomendaciones para no caer victima. >> temprano posible y con un preparador confiable. >> ella tiene varios anos acudiendo con el mismo contador. >> realmente me la recomendaron y me gusta mucho el trato, me g

that's what michael roman and his attorney are using to hopefully get the charges dismissed. she's saying there was no financial benefit, they're both grown adults, strong professionals, they had their own income and neither are relying upon the other, so that doesn't have any bearing. the other thing we saw that was interesting is that, as we know, fani willis and nathan wade have been subpoenaed to testify. she says that's nothing but an attempt to embarrass her and delve into her personal life and plans to fight that subpoena as well, zinhle. >> do we have a sense of what happens next? how might the trump case be impacted here? >> reporter: so there are a couple of things that can happen. of course, michael roman, and now trump has signed on to this, trying to get the case thrown out. let's look at the scenarios. sources i've been talking to that know fani willis well say that it is a near impossibility that she would step aside on her own or she or wade would recuse themselves as many people have been talking and questioning whether or not they would. the other option, of

relationship with wade in the form of romantic getaways allegations first made by trump co-defendant michael roman and his attorney ashley merchant in an effort to get willis removed as prosecutor. a move that would throw the entire georgia case against mr. trump into question. >> you think i'm on trial. these people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020 i'm not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial. >> reporter: at issue, who paid for vacations the two took together. wade and willis both testified they split costs evenly, or she reimbursed him >> you never wrote him a check? >> ma'am, i don't have checks. >> reporter: when pressed for evidence, willis said she used cash >> for many, many years, i have kept money in my house. i don't need anything from a man a man is not a plan. a man is a companion and so, there was tension always in our relationship, which is why i would give him his money back i don't need anybody to foot my bills >> reporter: both wade and willis have acknowledged a personal relationship. the question, when it began, before or after she hired h

. >> aqui se lo hemos informado esas alegaciones son las que sostiene el abogado de michael roman, unoos junto al expresidente trump de la i interferencia electoral en georgia, que es el caso que l lleva la fiscal fanny willis la funcionaria dijo que ya entrego toda la documentacion requerida. >> y avanza en la camara de representantes el intento de someter a juicio politico someter a juicio politico al secretario de seguridad nacional alejandro mallorca. >> la propuesta ahora debera ser tratada por el pleno de la camara, luego de que fuera aprobada esta madrugada en el comite de seguridad nacional. >> los congresistas republicanos acusan a mallorca de violar las leyes de inmigracion. >> los democratas sostienen que se trata de una maniobra p politica impulsada por el expresidente donald trump. >> en la ciudad de nueva york hay malestar en la policia d despues de la liberacion sin pago de fianza de los detenidos por atacar a patadas a dos p policias que intentaban sep separarlos en una pelea en times square. >> karla amezola nos tiene las imagenes y las reacciones por este caso, en el

relationship with nathan wade and that stems primarily over accusations from trump's co-defendant michael romanillis has benefited financially from a personal romantic relationship with wade whom she hired for the case. willis acknowledged that she and wade have a personal relationship, but she insists there was no misconduct. the judge overseeing that case said on monday that it's, quote, possible willis could be disqualified from overseeing the case. >>> all lanes of the bay bridge are open once again this midday after a crash that killed two people. it happened around 4:00 this morning in the eastbound lanes and the chp says a toyota that tacoma truck struck a mini cooper. three of the four passengers in the mini cooper died. the other driver of the pickup truck are in the hospital and we don't know the extent of the injury. >> today is the anniversary of the city of oakland and it marks one year since the police chief fired armstrong and the city has not hired a permanent replacement. he fired him for mishandling misconduct cases and a federal audit determined armstrong should not have face

. >> reporter: co-defendant michael roman claims willis' previous relationship with prosecutor nathan wade is a financial conflict of interest and argues she should be removed from the case. willis and wade admitted to beginning a relationship after he was hired in 2021. they took lavish trips while willis' office paid wade $650,000 for his work on the case. willis said she reimbursed wade for costs of the trips. >> i don't need anything for a man. the only man who's ever foot my bills completely is my daddy. >> reporter: willis' former friend testified that the relationship began earlier than november, 2021. >> you have no doubt that their romantic relationship was in effect from 2019 until the last time you spoke with her? >> no doubt. >> reporter: trump's georgia case could be further delayed if the judge decides to disqualify and remove willis. willis is expected to return to the courtroom today, but a ruling in the case is not expected this week. from trump and his team's perspective, the hearing only emboldens their argument that the four criminal cases against the former presid

this hearing was prompted by a january complaint from co-defendant michael roman who along with former president trump wants willis disqualified and wants the case thrown out. their attorneys allege willis personally and financially benefited from her involvement with wade, who has paid more than $650,000 by willis' office as the pair took lavish trips to places like california, florida, and the caribbean. willis said she didn't see those trips as gifts and reimbursed wade with cash. a judge is expected to rule in the coming days about whether she or wade could be disqualified from the trump case. nikole killion, cbs news, atlanta. up next, one bay area congressional district is about to select a new representative for the first time in decades, what residents are hoping to hear from the large group of candidates. >> we as a small business, a small family-owned business, need to make sure we have policies in place to be successful and keep this open and running. >>> plus why the nfl just suspended fo - [narrator] at kpix, we're taking weather to the next level. - we can show not just w

. >> y la fiscal willis le ha pedido al juez scott mcafee que deseche la mocion de michael roman queue cancele la audiencia programada para el proximo 15 de febrero. >> bueno, todavia hay cuestiones pendientes. >> gracias, joana. >> otra noticia importante en otro de los procesos contra el expresidente donald trump. >> donald trump. >> el juicio por haber intentado revertir los resultados el electorales de 2020 sera pospuesto. >> este es el caso federal que se sigue en la corte de washington. >> la fecha para iniciar era el 4 de marzo, pero ahora la jueza al frente lo postergo lo postergo porque una corte de apelaciones revisa si trump deberia ser inmune a estos c cargos. >> en carolina del sur, todo listo para las primarias del partido democrata, que son ya manana sabado. >> y aunque el presidente biden se enfila para ser el nominado, estas primarias seran un termometro del entusiasmo que despierta su campana javier vega viajo a carolina del sur y desde ahi reporta. >> este es el ultimo empuje ahora desde el comienzo oficial de las primarias democratas. >> la vicepresidenta kamala h

. >> reporter: the hearing was prompted by a complaint from co-defendant michael roman, a former trumps another representing trump want willis removed from the case because they say the relationship shows a financial conflict of interest. willis denied being in a relationship with wade before he was hired to join the team investigating trump in november 2021. >> and it's highly offensive when they try to implicate that you slept with somebody the first day you met with them, and i take exception to it. >> reporter: but a former friend and colleague of willis contradicted that account under questioning. >> you have no doubt that their romantic relationship was in effect from 2019 until the last time you spoke with her? >> no doubt. >> reporter: the attorneys allege willis personally benefited from her involvement with wade and was paid more than $650,000 by willis' office as the pair took lavish trips to california, florida, and the caribbean. willis insisted she reimbursed wade for the trips. >> i don't need anything from a man. a man is not a plan. a man is a companion, which is why i

. >> reporter: the hearing was proctored by a complaint from codefendant michael roman, a former trial they shall come his attorneys, plus another representing trump, want willis removed from the case because they say a relationship shows a financial conflict of interest. willis denied being in a relationship with wade before he was hired to join the team investigating trump in november 2021. >> and it is highly offensive when they tried to implicate that you slept with somebody the first day you met with them, and i take exception to it. >> reporter: but a former friend and colleague of willis contradicted that account under questioning. >> you have no doubt that their romantic relationship was in effect from 2019 until the last time you spoke with her? >> no doubt. >> reporter: the attorneys allege willis personally benefited from her involvement with wade and was paid more than $650,000 by willis' office, as the pair took lavish chips took florida, california, and the caribbean. willis insisted she reimbursed >> reporter: anyone for the trips. >> i don't need anything from a man. a

. >> and the codefendant michael roman, while, again, you mentioned there were a lot of accusations, none of it really had evidence but these were the statements that he made, that he is alleging there was a relationship even before nathan wade became a prosecutor, he said it happened after 2022. fani willis said it came after working together, et cetera. the sequence of events, when the relationship began, is that going to be critical in whether there's real merit, you know, an ethical line or whether, you know, in any way their relationship undermines the overall subversion case? >> it's a good question. i think the timing of the relationship -- we talked a little about this last week. i don't think it's that crusius. it's not the relationship per se. the da got this right. it's not the romantic relationship per se. lawyers on opposite sides of the case can be involved romantically and it not rise to an illegal unethical issue. the thing that has concerned me and other lawyers is this was designed to extract some sort of financial benefit from mr. wade and miss willis. at this poin

last month, trump co-defendant, michael roman, a long-time republican opposition researcher who worked in the trump administration, accused willis and wade of having an improper personal relationship and claimed wade was hired for the job because of it. willis did admit to the relationship, but she said it started after wade was hired. trump and several co-defendants joined roman's motion to try to remove willis. when roman's attorney, ashley merchant, accused willis of not wanting to turn over records, willis reminded her that she is not the one charged with a crime. >> i object to you getting records. you've been intrusive into people's personal lives. you're confused. you think i'm on trial. these people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. i'm not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial. >> earlier, mr. wade took the stand and testified to the timeline of his relationship with willis and how the pair split the costs of trips and their dates with willis, he said, paying in cash. she confirmed that later. before that, a former friend of d.a. willis, w

in a response of his own, michael roman said he has witnesses to tell the relationship began before wade's hiring. all of it has brought scrutiny to the closely watched case against donald trump and to willis herself. mr. donald trump had sought to have the charges dismissed. posting the sam is discredited and over. it all comes amid new pressure from congress where republican congress member jim jordan has subpoenaed willis seeing if she misused federal money. willis wants the judge to cancel the hearing and vows to fight the subpoena calling it an attempt to embarrass and harasser. peter and laura. >> thank you. >>> and in a separate case, the federal judge delayed the interference trial. the move comes with the federal appeals court in washington still deciding if the former president should be immune for actions in office. laura, what does this delay mean for this case? when will it happen and what does it mean for the former president? >> the trial date in march was a long shot. we have been waiting three weeks to hear from the federal appeals court. she cannot do anything until that

, andrea. >> and when they come back, nathan wade will still be on the stand, the attorney for michael roman co-defendant and other co-defendants' attorneys have a chance to question him, and then there would be a cross examination by the state and perhaps some rebuttal, so there is a ways to go with nathan wade on the stand. >> that was andrew weissmann's point, not only do we have other witnesses and other documents presumably, but this particular witness, mr. wade isn't finished, and the state will have a chance to ask him questions on cross examination. >> chuck rosenberg, as always, thank you so much for your counsel. thank you to andrew weissmann, charles coleman, and my colleagues ana cabrera and josÉ diaz-balart. thank you for joining us for the last three hours. chris jansing and katy tur will pick up our special coverage just after the break. r special e just after the break shortness of breath, and irregular heartbeat could be something more serious called attr-cm, a rare, underdiagnosed disease that worsens over time. sound like you? call your cardiologist, and ask about attr-cm.

taken off or that the case has somehow been weakened, which is obviously the intention here from michael roman and his allies and the inability from the d.a.'s office at least from the outside to secure these plea deals from the defendants. >> it's a real mixed bag. so if i was a defendant sitting in their shoes on the one hand this looks really good because it's creating, right, a dialogue that is completely removed from the merits of the case. on the other hand, people have pretty short memories. juries in the process are meant to ferret out people who come in with prejudices, so there's a real kind of mixed risk there. the other thing, too, is if there was a disqualification there might be the chance this gets sent to a d.a.'s office that has no interest in pursuing prosecutions or they'll make super favorable deals, or it could go to a neighboring office like in dekalb county which is similar to fulton county where you be equally talented prosecutors with the bandwidth and political will to continue the investigation. so that's a real risk as well. i don't know if it really ultimately will

allegations first made by trump codefendant michael roman and his attorney, ashley merchant, in an effortis removed as prosecutor. r. a move that would throw the entire georgia case against mr. trump into question. >> you think i'm on trial, these people are on trial for trying to steal an trelection i 2020. i'm not on file no matter how hard you try to put me on trial. >> reporter: at issue, who paid for vacations the two took together. wait and willis both testified they split costs evenly, or she reimbursed him. >> you never wrote him a check? >> i don't have checks. >> reporter: when pressed for evidence, willis said she used cash. >> for many, many years i have kept money in my house. i don't need anything from a. man a man is not a plan. a. man is a companion. so there was tension always in our relationship, which is why i would give him his money back. i don't need anybody to foot my bills. ot >> reporter: both wade and willis has acknowledged a personal relationship, the question, when it began? before or after she hired him on the trump case in november sh of 2021? today a longti

you remember reading defendant michael roman's motion to dismiss grand jury indictment as defective and motion to disqualify the district attorney, her office and the special prosecutor from fort prosecuting this matter? do you remember seeing that in the draft that you read and reviewed? >> yes. so when you tell this court that you didn't know what she was going to do, she gave you a hint in the title of the motion that she sent for you to read? didn't she? >> yes or no. >> i read the title of what the motion was. >> wasn't anything in the title that threw you off. pretty straightforward speaking title, isn't it? >> correct. >> so you knew that what she wanted was information from you so that she couldn't then file a motion to dismiss the grand jury indictment, motion to disqualified the district attorney and her office and special prosecutor from further prosecuting the matter, right? >> i'm going to object to speculation. >> overruled. >> you knew that, didn't you? yes or no. >> when she sent that motion, yes. >> and you knew the special prosecutor that to whom she was referring in t

. >> excuse me, do you remember reading defendant michael romans' motion to dismis grand jury and her office and the special prosecutor from further prosecuting this matter? >> yes. >> so when you tell this court you didn't know what she was going to do, she kind of gave you a hint, didn't she, in the title of the motion she sent for you to read, didn't she? yes or no. >> i read the title of what the motion was. >> there wasn't anything in the title that threw you off. pretty straightforward speaking title, wasn't it? >> correct. >> so you knew that what she wanted was information from you so that she could then and the special prosecutor from further prosecuting the matter, right? >> i'm going to object to speculation. >> no overruled. >> you knew that, didn't you? yes or no. >> when she sent the motion, yes. >> and you knew that the special prosecutor to whom she was referring in that motion was mr. wade, correct? you knew that? >> yes. >> because you read the motion. you said you reviewed it, correct? >> yes. >> and we're not going to over all of the -- number one, because we don't

way to defusing this whole controversy because the essence of the motion filed by the lawyer for michael romane of the codefendants, was that there was this conflict of interest because she gave the job to somebody she was romantically involved with so they -- she could pay him a lot of money so he could take her on lavish vacations. it was a bit of a farfetched idea to propose this because there was no evidence. certainly no evidence that any of this had anything to do with the case. but if you take away the fact that they were not romantically involved when nathan wade got the job and, as part of the motion yesterday, she was paying for about half of the cost of these trips, it kind of takes away the guts of the motion. we will see if there's any evidence that comes out that contradicts what was filed yesterday, but if there is not i think it's a good chance this is likely to be all this. >> you include an interesting exchange, first how the senator lindsey graham threw trump under the bus when he testified to the grand jury, writing that graham said that if you told trump that martians came

and you're right to bring up michael roman. he was the defendant in the case that surfaced these allegations and then when donald trump heard about them he is like i'm joining in on this one. and now the judge is going to be hearing all of this and having to follow this love story turned, you know, trump election interference case as well. so certainly something to watch. lexie, thank you for joining us. "fox & friends" starts right now. ♪ >> carley: thank you very much, carley. it is 6:00 here in new york city. this is thursday, february 16th, welcome to "fox & friends." a fox news alert. one person dead, 21 more hurt in a shooting at the kansas city chiefs super bowl victory parade also breaking right now is russia planning to put nukes in space? what we know about the quote serious threat, as national security adviser jake sullivan will be briefing lawmakers later today. >> no one is on the same page right now. plus, washington, d.c. carjackings are set to keep pace with a record shattering 2023 numbers. >> it seems like it'

so last month trump's codefendant, michael roman, a long time gop opposition researcher who worked in the trump administration accused willis and wade of having an improper personal relationship and went onto claim that wade was hired because of it. willis has admitted to a relationship but said it started after wade was hired. trump and several other codefendants joined roman's motion to try and remove willis from the case. when roman's attorney, a woman named ashley merchant, accused willis of not wanting to turn over records, willis reminded her and the world watching that she was not the one charged with a crime. >> i object to you getting records. you've been intrusive into people's personal live. you're confused. you think i'm on trial. these people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. i'm not on trial no matter how hard you try to put me on trial. earlier wade took the stand and testified to his time line of relationship with willis and how the pair split the costs of trip and dates. before that, a former friend of willis who also worked at the d.a.'s office, t

. >> do you >> remember on the sec cuz me do you remember reading the defendant michael roman's motion to dismiss grand jury indictment as fatally effective and motion to disqualify hi the district attorney, her office, and the special prosecutor from further prosecuting this matter. do you remember seeing that in the draft that you read and reviewed? >> yes. >> so when you tell this court that you didn't know what she was up for, which he was going to do. she kind of gave you a hint, didn't she, in the title of the motion? that she sent for you to read? vinci? >> yes or no? >> i'll read the title of what the motion was and wasn't anything in the title that threw you off? pretty straightforward as speaking, title isn't it? >> correct. >> so you knew that what she wanted was information from you so that she could then file a motion to dismiss the grand jury indictment to motion to disqualify the district attorney and her office and the special prosecutor from further prosecuting the matter. right. and >> object. speculation. >> you knew that didn't you overrule yes or no? >> when did sh

but ashley merchant, the attorney for michael roman who brought the challenge against fani willis saidce willis and wade were not forthright about the relationship in the first instance, there is no reason to believe that they are telling the truth now. if indeed they did not tell the truth in this sworn affidavit to the court, what are the implications? >> well, their position in this case has become untenable if this is proven to be true. indeed, both of these attorneys could be looking at serious repercussions for filing a false statement of this kind. this was not some aside, this was the core of their argument. what they were flagging in the papers and raising with the court because the relationship started in 2022, there is less of a conflict of interest or other ethical problems associated with the relationship. if they misrepresented that date, then not only is their position as prosecutors in the case thrown into question, but their position as counsel, as attorneys is thrown into question with courts. they could be referred to the bar for other possible action. >> john: i wan

maybe we should take it off, or the case is weakened, which is obviously and the intention from michael roman his allies. and the inability of the d. a. 's office, at least from the outside to secure more peels from these defendants. >> it is a very mixed bag. if i was the defendant sitting in their shoes, on the one hand this looks really good because it is creating a dialogue that is completely removed from the narrative of the case. on the other hand people have short memories. juries in the process are meant to ferret out people who come in with prejudices. there is a real mixed risk here. and the other thing is if there was a disqualification there might be the chance that this gets sent to a. d. a. 's office and has no interest in pursuing prosecutions. or that will make super favorable deals or it could go to a neighboring office like in dekalb county which is very similar to fulton county where you have equal prosecutors and the bandwidth from purple will to do and continue this investigation. so that is a real risk as well. i do not know if it ultimately will affect anybody's calculu

it was a personal opposition research stout moved by defendant michael roman, because that's what he's on a number of decades for the gop. his specialty is up research. he elected trying to dig up dirt. and i emphasize, tripods in this instance, he thought he was going to sling mud and it was going to stick. however, d.a. fani willis, as you see right now on the screen, took the stand. she didn't have. two she had been subpoenaed. there was an objection. and it looked like the judge in this case was not going to for her to testify. but she withdrew that objection. she says i wave that objection, she wanted to be able to explain why the lies, the new, into that salacious rumors, or only damaging her professional credibility and reputation with zero proof and evidence to support the claims from the defense. at the conclusion of the evidence is today, the judge announced he'd be hearing oral arguments closing arguments, if you will, in about a week and maybe some. change but because it's an evidentiary hearing, you have to have exactly that evidence. and the defense only put up a former d

they have been subpoenaed by ashley merchant, the attorney for michael roman, the trump codefendant who launched the motion that set this into play. willis is saying a hearing on thursday would be nothing but a circus. there's no need to have herself, wade and her staff testify. and separately, wade has filed his own motion to quash a subpoena, basically saying that ashley merchant trying to get his bank records, personal and professional bank records is nothing but a fishing expedition. all of this is pointing towards thursday. remember, this for the past month has been the focus of the trump case here in georgia. what really has upended this entire thing with a number of defendants, including donald trump himself signing on and saying fani willis should be disqualified. we'll get a good sense today and certainly on thursday, which direction scot mcafee is leaning in terms of how this will play out. >> nbc's blayne alexander, thank you. >>> and let's go to nbc's courtney kube at the pentagon. what more do we know about his condition right now? >> we don't know exactly what condition he

case creates a conflict of interest about the goals of the prosecution and, jose, ironically, michael roman, the defendant who raised these allegations, his lawyers are a married couple who are participating in the case together. a very interesting situation all around. >> indeed it is. joyce vance, thank you for clearing this up. appreciate it. >>> up next, the new and urgent plea to hamas this morning to finalize the hostage deal. we got the latest on negotiations. >>> and late, a major disruption for people who rely on ride share and delivery apps. why thousands of drivers are on strike today. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. ay you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. i'm getting vaccinated... ...with pfizer's pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine. so am i. because i'm at risk for pneumococcal pneumonia. i already got a pneumonia vaccine, ...but i'm asking about the added protection of prevnar 20®. if you're 19 or older with certain chronic conditions... ...like asthma, diabetes, copd, or heart disease,... ...or are 65 or older, you are at increased... ...risk f

this came just a few second after the attorney for michael roman, who has been leading all of this, called willis to the stand. willis' attorney stood up and said that's not necessary. there was a back and forth and then the d.a. walked in herself and basically said i want to take the stand, let's go. so right now we're in a five-minute court break. she asked for three documents. i wasn't clear on what the documents were. she asked for three documents. they're taking a break while she get those documents. when court is back in session, she's going to take the stand in this fiery hearing. >> there were tense moments earlier today when nathan wade took the stand. the former president was in attendance for today's hearing and it lasted about two hours in new york. what did he say? >> reporter: not anything in the courtroom. he sad stoically silent and staring at the judge. in the hallway, he once again heard what we've heard him say so often, that it is an unfair trial, it's election interference and he's being unfairly targeted in this case. and of course he said that he's innocent of any an

she repeatedly clashed with ashleigh merchant, who's the attorney for the co-defendant, michael roman so let's be clear because you've lied in this table which one you learning right here. thank you. live right here. >> no, no, no. this is a trial judge that earned her and the other attorney a song and management from the judge. and while more on that case in a moment here in manhattan. meantime, both drama and history, a judge setting a march 25 day for what will be e the first terminal trump criminal case to get to trial. the first and arguably thinness really of four cases against the former president now this case is new york's 34 count indictment of the former president over his alleged 2016 hush money payment to porn star stormy daniels >> something that virtually every legal scholar says they don't understand that there's no correct, even if he was guilty himself i mean, there's no crime >> others disagreed. the he he's referring to there is, of course himself more in that trial shortly, also, as we mentioned, and what happens tomorrow if as expected, the judge, arthur engoron

she's representing trump's co-defendant michael roman. she's also the attorney who brought these conflict of interest allegations to light. and throughout the questioning, things got heated >> you're confused. you think i'm on trial. these people who are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. i'm not on trial no matter how hard you tried to put me on trial, you glide in this let me tell you which one you loud and right here. thank you. live right here. >> no, no, no. this is a true judge and a lot it was an intense back-and-forth specifically on the timeline of when this >> romantic relationship between fani willis and wade began. here's what they both said on that question. >> i don't know the day that we started seeing each other, but it was early 22 is my recollection. when did your romantic relationship with as well as begin? >> 2022 >> okay. but >> robin, your t a4 friend of fani willis's and colleagues contradicted that, saying that willis and ways romance actually began in 2019 before she hired him to work on this case.

do you remember reading defendant michael roman's motion to dismiss grand jury indictment is fatally defective and motion to disqualify the district attorney, her office, and the special prosecutor from further prosecuting this matter? do you remember seeing that in the draft that you read and reviewed? mr. bradley: yes. >> so when you tell this court that you didn't know what she was going to do, she kind of gave you a hint, didn't she in the title of the motion that she sent for you to read, didn't she? yes or no? mr. bradley: i read the title of what the motion was. >> there wasn't anything in the title that threw you off pretty straightforward as speaking title, is not it? mr. bradley: correct. >> so you knew that what she wanted was information from you so that she could then file a motion to dismiss the grand jury indictment to motion to disqualify the district attorney and her office and the special prosecutor from further prosecuting the matter, right? >> objection. speculation. judge mcafee: overruled. >> you knew that, did not you? yes or no? mr. bradley: when she sent that

election interference co-defendant michael roman, who first made the allegation of an improper relationship, is attempting to use it to have his charges dismissed. former president trump has joined that effort. there is an evidentiary hearing on the allegations scheduled for next week. lisa, what do you make of all of this? >> in a word, it's tawdry, and i don't think it really has much impact on whether fani willis should be disqualified. at the end of the day, the things here that are troubling, and i want to be clear with our viewers, there are some things here about this that are troubling to me. in particular, the fact that nathan wade doesn't really have a background in rico law. on the other hand, if you take fani willis at her word, that no relationship developed between the two of them until after his appointment, and you take her at her word that these are two financially independent people who, in the course of one of their divorces, ended up in a relationship with one another, there really is no there-there. it is just a distraction that is needlessly consuming time. as you note

trump codefendant, michael, roman a longtime opposition researcher who worked in the trump administrationl listen weight of having an improper personal relationship, acclaimed wade was hired for the job because of it. but listed admit to the relationships, but she said it started after weight was hired. trump and several other codefendants joined roman's motion to try to remove willis. when roman's attorney ashley merchant accused willis of not wanting to turn over records, willis reminded her that she is not the one charged with a crime. >> i object to you get in records. you've been intrusive into peoples personal lives. you are confused. you think i'm on trial. these people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. i'm not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial. >> earlier, mr. way took the stand and testified to the timeline of his relationship with, willis and how the pair split the cost of trips and their dates with willis, he said, willis paid in cash. she can from that later. a former friend of d.a. willis who also worked inside the d.a.'s office, her