Winery worker who told CNN he saw DA Fani Willis pay cash offers to testify
By Zachary Cohen, CNN
(CNN) — The winery worker who first told CNN that he witnessed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis pay cash when she visited Napa Valley with special prosecutor Nathan Wade in 2023 is offering to testify, according to a court filing from prosecutors late Thursday, ahead of closing arguments in the fight over whether Willis should be disqualified from the Georgia election subversion case.
Prosecutors are moving to admit into evidence an affidavit from Stan Brody, who told CNN earlier this month that Willis not only picked up the nearly $400 tab when she visited Acumen Wines in Napa Valley with Wade, but paid in cash — backing up part of her earlier testimony.
Prosecutors want Judge Scott McAfee to accept Brody’s affidavit into evidence and if he doesn’t, they ask that Brody be allowed to testify in person, according to the filing. They said Brody is willing to testify at Friday’s hearing.
Defense attorneys for Former President Donald Trump and other co-defendants have argued Willis should be disqualified because she benefited financially from her romantic relationship with Wade, whom the district attorney hired in 2021 to spearhead the prosecution — specifically pointing to records showing Wade, at times, paid for some expenses associated with vacations they took together.
During an evidentiary hearing earlier this month, Willis testified that she and Wade split expenses when they went on vacations together but said there were few records of those payments because she often used cash.
Willis’ father also testified that Willis often uses cash, especially when traveling, when he testified as a witness for the state.
On Friday, both sides will make their final arguments before McAfee on whether Willis should be disqualified, but he has left the door open for new evidence to be introduced.
CNN was first to interview Brody, and there is no evidence the state had identified him as a potential witness before that reporting surfaced.
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