Live updates: DA Fani Willis faces misconduct allegations in the Trump Georgia election interference case

Willis’ father says he was concerned for his daughter’s safety after she was elected

Floyd said that Willis was forced to move after she was elected. He said she was sworn in on Jan. 1, 2021, and around Feb. 3, at 5:30 a.m., there were people outside the home cursing and yelling and calling her the “b-word” and “n-word.”

“I hadn’t seen anything like it before,” he said.

“She was forced to leave,” Floyd said about Willis. He said he stayed there until 2022.

Floyd said he feared for his daughter’s safety.

“They said they would blow up the house,” he said. “They were gonna kill her. They were gonna kill me. They were gonna kill my grandchildren. I mean, on and on and on. And it just, it became — and I was concerned for her safety.”

Barnes confirms the date of his meeting with Willis about the special prosecutor offer

Former Gov. Roy Barnes returned to the courtroom to tell the court that his calendar showed the meeting with Willis over whether he would be interested in working as a special prosecutor was Oct. 26, 2021.

Willis’ father takes the stand

Willis’ father, John Floyd III, has taken the stand. He’s a retired attorney.

Judge says Bradley might be in violation of his subpoena

Bradley, the witness that the court has been waiting on, is still at his doctor’s appointment. Attorneys said that they would prefer he appear in person for testimony rather than via Zoom.

Judge McAfee said that Bradley, who was Wade’s law partner, might be in violation of his subpoena because he wasn’t made aware of the medical appointment, and witnesses were warned the hearing could take place for two days.

Atlanta mayor spotted in courtroom

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens was in the courtroom and he left around the time Barnes’ testimony ended.

Barnes says he wasn’t surprised Wade was ultimately chosen as special prosecutor

Trump’s lawyer, Steve Sadow, asked Barnes about his interactions with Wade, and Barnes said he wasn’t surprised Wade was ultimately chosen as a special prosecutor.

Barnes said Wade is a good organizer.

Former Ga. Gov. Roy Barnes testifies Willis asked him in 2021 if he’d serve as a special prosecutor

Former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, who served in that office from 1999 to 2003 as a Democrat, was called by the DA’s office as a witness.

In response to questions from Adam Abbate from the DA’s office, Barnes said he was approached by Willis in 2021 about potentially being a special prosecutor investigating Trump’s and others’ interference in the 2020 election.

Barnes said he met with Willis and Wade. He explained that there had been threats against him and he didn’t want to have more security as a special prosecutor as he had experienced as governor.

“I told her I’m not interested,” Barnes said.

Court is back in session

The court is back in session, but Terrence Bradley still hasn’t arrived, so lawyers are planning to call other witnesses instead.

Willis took the stand to defend her reputation and save her election interference case against former President Donald Trump as defense attorneys try to get her kicked off. NBC’s Laura Jarrett reports for “TODAY.”

Trump opts against Supreme Court appeal on civil immunity claim over Jan. 6 lawsuits

Lawsuits seeking to hold Donald Trump personally accountable for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol can move forward after the former president chose not to take his broad immunity claim to the Supreme Court.

Trump had a Thursday deadline to file a petition at the Supreme Court contesting an appeals court decision from December that rejected his immunity arguments, but he did not do so.

The appeals court made it clear that Trump could still claim immunity later in the proceedings in three cases brought by Capitol Police officers and members of Congress.

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“President Trump will continue to fight for presidential immunity all across the spectrum,” said Steven Cheung, a Trump spokesman.

The civil lawsuits against Trump are separate from the criminal case against him that also arose from Jan. 6. On Monday, Trump asked the justices to put that case on hold on immunity grounds.

Read the full story here.

Trump’s attorney wants his name pronounced right: ‘It’s SAY-DOW’

What goes on in the courtroom while everyone is waiting for testimony to resume? Trump’s attorney Steve Sadow just stood up and asked if CNN was in the gallery to confirm how to say his last name. “It’s SAY-DOW,” he emphasized.

He said his wife wanted CNN to get it right.

Bradley set to testify after he returns from a doctor’s appointment

Lawyers were ready to move forward with testimony from Terrence Bradley, one of Wade’s law partners, but a member of his legal team notified Judge McAfee that he is at a doctor’s appointment.

The case now stands in recess until they’re able to move forward with testimony.

Fani Willis not returning to the stand as expected

Willis will not be returning to the stand to provide additional testimony, which was expected Friday morning. The DA’s office said it has no further questions.

Court is in session

The court hearing has begun.

Trump suggests without evidence that Fani Willis lied on the stand

The former president, in a series of posts on his Truth Social account, suggested without evidence that Fani Willis lied on the stand when she said she repaid Nathan Wade for trips they took together.

“Fani never paid cash. She got free trips and other things from her lover, with the exorbitant amounts of money she authorized to be paid to him. A giant scam. Witch hunt!!!” he wrote in all caps last night.

Willis testified that she paid Wade back for trips in cash.

Trump also claimed that legal experts think Willis should be disqualified.

“It was a FAKE CASE from the start, and now everybody sees it for what it is, a MAJOR LEAGUE SCANDAL!” he wrote. “The legal pundits, experts, and scholars are all screaming that this Witch Hunt, which has hurt so many fine people and patriots, should be immediately terminated and permanently erased from everyone’s memory. The stench of what has happened should shame Georgia no longer. It should get back to GREATNESS, and FAST!!!”

Who showed up at court to hear yesterday’s testimony

One notable thing about yesterday’s hearing was how packed the courtroom was — including a group of community members who had come to support Willis. 

Among them was former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin (the city’s first female mayor) who had also served as a co-chair of Willis’s transition team. 

Also present was Charlie Bailey, the former Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, for whom Willis threw a fundraiser that ultimately got her disqualified from prosecuting Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who served as a fake elector in the state in 2020 and was running in the same race as Bailey. 

Several members of the clergy also came to support Willis. One who returned this morning for the second day of her testimony said he and several other ministers met with Willis yesterday morning to encourage and pray with her. 

Willis told them at that meeting that she wanted to testify and was hoping she would be called, he said, describing her as “excited” to testify. 

This morning, a line of mostly reporters started forming before 7 a.m. to enter the courthouse. As of 8 a.m., there appear to be more than two dozen people waiting. 

Willis took the stand to deny misconduct allegations made against her in the Trump Georgia election interference case. NBC News’ Danny Cevallos explores whether Willis’ testimony was effective and if she stayed consistent with special prosecutor Nathan Wade’s testimony.

Here’s what happened during yesterday’s hearing

Fani Willis misconduct hearing resumes in Trump Georgia election case 

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is set to resume her bombshell testimony Friday in a hearing that threatens to derail the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump.

The district attorney’s office is expected to call at least three new witnesses to the stand, including Willis’ father, while seeking to quash a push for her airline records. A dispute over who paid for trips Willis took with the lead prosecutor in the case against Trump is at the center of the allegations against her.

An attorney for one of Trump’s co-defendants said Willis’ Delta Air Lines records may reflect previously undisclosed trips by Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade amid claims that Willis personally benefited from their relationship. The attorneys face misconduct allegations that could lead to Willis’ removal from the case.

Willis dropped her bid to avoid testifying in a surprise turn Thursday, taking the stand after a former friend disputed the timeline of her relationship with Wade. Willis acknowledged this month that she had a personal relationship with Wade but denied that it was improper. 

Read the full story here.