Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis surprised a courtroom on Thursday by taking the witness stand during a hearing centered on whether she engaged in a conflict of interest in her case against former President Donald Trump in Georgia.

Willis shot feisty remarks at attorneys who questioned her about her previously undisclosed relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom her office has been bankrolling for more than two years to help with the case.

In addition to Willis, Wade testified on Thursday, as did Wade’s divorce attorney Terrence Bradley and a former friend of Willis’s named Robin Yeartie.

The blockbuster hearing, which is set to continue through Friday, came after Willis charged Trump and 18 others last year in a sweeping racketeering indictment related to the 2020 election in Georgia. She had been eyeing a late summer trial, but the case was derailed after the accusations about her relationship with Wade surfaced through a court document filed by co-defendant Mike Roman.

Roman accused the district attorney of financially benefiting from cruises, vacations, and day trips she went on with Wade and called for her disqualification from the case. Several other co-defendants, including Trump, joined his calls.

Roman’s attorney Ashleigh Merchant led the calls for witnesses and questioning on Thursday. Willis had been subpoenaed by Merchant before the hearing, but the district attorney had asked Judge Scott McAfee to quash the subpoena, and it was unclear right up until the moment Willis appeared in the courtroom on Thursday whether she would actually take the stand in her own case.

Below are some of the top takeaways from the first day of the hearing.

Willis reimbursed Wade in cash, according to their testimonies.

Bank statements and corroborating witness testimonies revealed that Willis and Wade vacationed together at least as early as 2022 to places such as Aruba, Belize, and Napa Valley and that they took day trips and dined together. One of Roman’s key claims is that Willis, who has been using Fulton County funds to pay Wade a hefty hourly rate, financially benefited from the relationship.

Willis and Wade both denied this in their testimonies on Thursday and said they, in fact, roughly split all costs when they spent time together.

Asked how this was so given that many of their travel expenses appeared on Wade’s business credit card statements, they each testified that Willis would pay Wade back in cash.

Wade said he wasn’t “keeping a ledger” but said Willis had an “independent, strong woman thing … so she paid her own way.”

Willis, whose demeanor was combative during much of her testimony, at one point snidely opined on the focus of the hearing being about money as she spoke on why she and Wade broke up last summer.

“It’s interesting that we’re here about this money,” Wilis said. “Mr. Wade is used to women that, as he told me one time — the only thing a woman can do for him is make a sandwich. We would have brutal arguments about the fact that I am your equal. I don’t need anything from a man. A man is not a plan. A man is a companion.”

“I don’t need anybody to foot my bills,” she added.

Merchant also at one point highlighted how Willis was struggling financially in the year before she met Wade. Willis admitted this, saying she loaned herself $50,000 of her own retirement money to campaign for a judge position in 2018. Willis narrowly lost the race and lost all of her money, she said.

Willis and Wade were grilled on when their romantic relationship began.

Merchant has been claiming she has proof that Wade lied on a sworn affidavit he submitted to the court this month by saying he and Willis did not become romantically involved until after November 2021, when Willis appointed him to the Trump case.

Merchant brought Yeartie to the stand, and Yeartie testified that she had “no doubt” Willis and Wade were romantically involved “soon after” they met at a conference in 2019. She said Willis told her this and that she also witnessed the pair be affectionate with each other.

Yeartie said she and Willis had been close friends since they met in college in the early 1990s but that they had a falling out in 2022 after Yeartie resigned from the district attorney’s office over performance issues.

Willis admitted they had once been friends but said there was a period of many years where they fell out of touch and that she would not consider Yeartie a “close” friend.

Merchant also attempted to question Bradley, who helped Wade with his divorce proceedings beginning in 2018. State attorneys repeatedly objected, arguing that any information he had was protected by attorney-client privilege.

Merchant each time re-tailored her questions for precision, eventually leading McAfee to overrule the state attorneys and allow Merchant to ask Bradley what he knew about when Willis and Wade’s relationship began.

At that point, Bradley went silent and told him he consulted with a bar professional who told him he should not discuss anything he has seen or heard at all related to Wade and Willis.

McAfee, who was largely even-keeled for the entirety of the hearing, briefly became incredulous.

“That’s a broader interpretation of attorney-client privilege than I’ve ever heard,” the judge said.

Willis and Wade repeatedly disputed the claim that they began a romantic relationship before 2022.

Asked if she partook in any romantic activity, such as hand holding, with Wade earlier than 2022, Willis replied, “I don’t consider my relationship to be romantic before that. I’m not a hand holder, so no.”

Willis accuses an attorney of lying, prompting the judge to admonish Willis

When Willis first entered the courtroom, she announced that she would no longer fight the subpoena Merchant had issued her. She said she was so “anxious” to have a conversation with Merchant that she “ran” to the hearing room. Once taking the stand, Willis immediately began taking shots at the attorney.

“It is ridiculous to me that you lied on Monday and yet here we still are,” Willis said.

Willis proceeded to accuse Marchant of lying several more times.

“As you know, Mr. Wade is a Southern gentleman. Me, not so much,” Willis told her at one point.

Eventually, Willis lost her temper and shouted at Merchant while holding up piles of documents, “It is a lie! It is a lie!”

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McAfee scolded Willis and called for a brief recess and later warned her two more times to cease her outbreaks and long-winded responses.

Willis is set to take the stand to finish testifying Friday morning.