A hearing resumed Friday that will decide if Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is removed from Georgia’s election meddling case.

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Lawyers questioned Willis Thursday about her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, “which defense attorneys allege presents a conflict of interest that should force Willis off the case,” The Associated Press reports.

“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,” Willis said during a contentious first day in court.

In fiery testimony, Willis “forcefully pushed back against claims of impropriety, at times getting visibly upset as lawyers questioned her about everything from her finances to trips she has taken with Wade,” The AP’s Kate Brumback and Alanna Durkin Richer write.

Brumback and Richer add that the questions for Willis and for Wade, who testified before her, “underscored the extent to which the prosecutors are themselves now under a public microscope, with revelations about their personal lives diverting attention away from Trump’s own conduct.”

Willis previously tried to avoid testifying, but agreed to do so Thursday after a former friend and co-worker testified that Willis and Wade’s relationship began in 2019 – earlier than the pair had claimed.

“Robin Yeartie, who previously worked in the district attorney’s office, testified that she saw Willis and Wade hugging and kissing before he was hired as special prosecutor in November 2021,” The AP reports. “Wade and Willis both testified that they didn’t start dating until 2022 and that their relationship ended months ago.”

During testimony that spanned hours earlier on Thursday, Wade also admitted to “having sex with Willis during his separation from his estranged wife, even though he had claimed in a divorce filing that wasn’t the case,” Brumback and Richer write. Read more here.

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