After Fulton County DA Fani Willis self-destructed under cross-examination at Thursday's humiliating hearing, her father, John C. Floyd, III, formerly a high-ranking Black Panther, testified in his daughter's defense as she faces the threat of disqualification in her RICO case against former President Donald Trump.
From 2019 through 2020, Willis was dating another boyfriend besides Wade, a disc jockey nicknamed "Deuce," Floyd testified.
The timeline of Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade's affair is in dispute. Ex-Willis staffer Robin Yeartie, who is a longtime friend and former roommate of Willis, testified that the romantic relationship began as early as 2019, years before Willis appointed Wade in November 2021, while Willis and Wade claim they became romantically involved after his appointment sometime in 2022. However, the fling supposedly ended just before former President Donald Trump's August 2023 indictment.
Although Willis frequently speaks to Floyd as often as 10 times a day, and the extremely close father-and-daughter duo once lived together, Floyd said he didn't know about her affair with Wade until recently: "I just found out when other folks found out."
"She kept that [the relationship] a secret from you?" Floyd was asked. "Correct," he affirmed.
Asked if Willis kept a hoard of cash on hand, since she testified that she repaid Wade for their luxury vacations with wads of cash lying around her house, Floyd was flustered at first before corroborating point-by-point what Willis previously stated in court.
"Oh, no! She—Oh, no! You see, maybe, excuse me, and your honor, I'm not trying to be racist, okay?" Floyd replied. "But it's a black thing. I was trained, and most black folks—they hide cash; they keep cash [...] I was trained you always keep some cash."
"I've always kept cash. And I told my daughter, 'You keep six months' worth of cash, always.' For example, I had three safes in my house [...] And as a matter of fact, I gave my daughter her first cash box and told her to always keep some cash," he added.
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"When your daughter moved...did she say anything to you about having a large savings of cash?"
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 16, 2024
Fani Willis' Father: "I'm not trying to be racist, okay? But it's a black thing!"
"So is that a yes?"
"Yeah! Absolutely!" pic.twitter.com/XFCr8P9aKZ
Floyd, who previously called the police an "occupying army" and "the enemy," co-founded the Black Panther Political Party, a faction of Huey P. Newton's radical Black Panthers movement. During a meeting where the party was founded, Floyd is quoted declaring: "Malcolm X is going to be our patron saint. Our political philosophy is black nationalism." Floyd also claims to have dated communist activist Angela Davis, who was on the FBI's Most Wanted fugitives list for murder and kidnapping.
Trump prosecutor Fani Willis’ father was top Black Panther and called cops ‘enemy’ https://t.co/yVtUh5iTxS pic.twitter.com/aeAlLMZ1Sv
— New York Post (@nypost) September 1, 2023
Floyd hit all the talking points Willis had made to a T. Willis testified that Floyd instructed her to stockpile at least "six months" in cash around the house at all times, painted it a race-based practice taught by her father, and mentioned the three safes from her childhood days as well as the lockbox he bought her. "I don't know why this old black man feels like that, but he does," Willis said.
"When you meet my father, he's gonna tell you..." Willis told the defense counsel Thursday afternoon.
As a follow-up question, Trump co-defendant Harrison Ford's defense attorney Christopher Kachouroff asked Floyd: "Sir, you seem to know about the issue of cash in this transaction [...] How did you know cash was gonna be an issue in this testimony?"
"Because I was prepped by the lawyers and they asked me about it," Floyd responded, chuckling: "What else?"
"And did you speak with your daughter about your testimony?" Kachouroff pressed.
Pausing for a few seconds, Floyd answered: "She may have been present when the lawyers were. I really don't remember."
Another cross-examiner, Trump co-defendant Mike Roman's defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant, grilled Floyd on when the "prep session" took place. Floyd said, "It must have been Wednesday." Merchant then asked if they talked about any of Thursday's testimony or watched the news broadcasts. "Oh, absolutely! You can't put the TV on without seeing this," Floyd replied, noting he listened to the radio the eve of his testimony. "Last night for five hours, all they talked about was this case."
Fani Willis' father testifies that he is an avid consumer of conservative talk radio. pic.twitter.com/K7dyuaXQr4
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 16, 2024
"So, you were aware of what the testimony your daughter gave yesterday was?" Merchant questioned.
"Yeah!" Floyd admitted. "I mean how couldn't you? Unless you don't put the radio on, unless you don't put the television on, unless you don't read The AJC [Atlanta Journal-Constitution] or The New York Times, which I do every day, of course!"
"So, is it fair to say nobody instructed you that you were under the rules of sequestration?" Merchant asked.
"Right, and I'm not under subpoena either," Floyd affirmed.
Overall, Floyd's testimony was bizarre, to say the least. Packed full of shameless plugs about his documentary filmmaking, movie script (FYI it's titled "Bad Blood," for the diehard Floyd fans out there), and memoir, his sworn statements were something else.
He name-dropped Nelson Mandela, whom Floyd claimed he worked to free in South Africa, and The Pursuit of Happyness's Peter Fitzsimmons, who's supposedly "interested" in working on Floyd's documentary project. Floyd, who was supposed to testify remotely from California, appeared in person, which he noted took time away from filming his upcoming documentary.
Heck, he even had exclusive knowledge of the COVID-19 pandemic prior to 2020, he says.
Also Fani’s Dad:
— Phil Holloway ✈️ (@PhilHollowayEsq) February 16, 2024
“I have a movie script to sell” pic.twitter.com/UZRdByzR8m
"Before COVID was even here in the United States—remember I lived in South Africa and I've traveled the world. I knew COVID was coming before. I knew COVID was around before. They maybe had announced it in '20, but in fact, I knew about it and I knew what was happening in '19," Floyd, also an attorney, claimed under oath during the defense's interrogation.
Fani Willis' father testifies that he had exclusive knowledge of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 before it was announced to the world. pic.twitter.com/sKrxbsPgKc
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 16, 2024
Whipping out a comically sized magnifying glass while on the witness stand, he was like a character out of the board game Clue. A former Harvard fellow and "a theater buff," Floyd fancies himself a well-traveled Renaissance Man with friends in high places.
Fani Willis’ dad just whipped out a magnifying glass to read documents lmao pic.twitter.com/4axaK2YwnQ
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) February 16, 2024
Floyd is also a frat bro, proudly repping Kappa Alpha Psi, a historically black fraternity, in the courtroom.
The other witnesses lined up for Day Two of the disqualification proceedings also delivered some eyebrow-raising moments.
The defense's no-show star witness, Wade's divorce lawyer and ex-associate Terrence Bradley, was at a doctor's appointment all morning (he eventually hobbled in after technically violating his subpoena) and the state's witness, former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, a Democrat, recalled an incident where he was allegedly accused of being "too close to the Jews." The New York Times described Barnes as "a sort of Michael Jordan figure" among the Georgia trial lawyers who highly praised the prominent lawyer.
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