ATLANTA (AP) A former law partner of Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade was evasive on the witness stand Tuesday as lawyers pressed him on details about a romantic relationship between Wade and District Attorney Fani Willis that has roiled the 2020 Georgia election case against Donald Trump.

Terrence Bradley, who also served for a time as Wades divorce attorney, was expected to be a key witness for lawyers seeking to remove Willis from one of four criminal cases against the former president . But when they questioned him, Bradley repeatedly said he did not know or could not remember when Willis and Wades relationship began.

When attorneys confronted Bradley about a text message in which he said the relationship started when Willis was working as a municipal court judge, Bradley told the court he had only been speculating. Defense lawyers appeared to grow increasingly frustrated with his lack of answers, with Trumps lawyer at one point essentially accusing Bradley of lying on the witness stand.

You do in fact know when it started. And you dont want to testify to that in court, thats the best explanation, isnt it? Trump attorney Steve Sadow asked. Thats the true explanation because you dont want to admit it in court, correct?

Bradleys testimony was thought to be potentially crucial as defense attorneys seek to undercut Willis and Wades claims about when their romantic relationship began. That timeline has become a central issue as defense attorneys push to have the pair disqualified from the case, arguing that their relationship created a conflict of interest.

Bradleys testimony provided the latest courtroom foray into the personal lives of the prosecutors pursuing a hugely consequential prosecution of the former president and leading Republican candidate. It further laid bare how an investigation that began with direct evidence of Trumps efforts to remain in power has instead taken on a soap opera atmosphere, bogged down by testimony about sex, dating, cash stashes and text messages involving neither Trump nor any of the defendants but rather the law enforcement officials leading the case.

But even as the hearings put salacious details about the prosecutors private lives under a microscope, it remained unclear whether defense attorneys would succeed in convincing the judge that Willis relationship with Wade presented a conflict of interest that should force them off the case.