Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ father, John Floyd III, told a White attorney, “It’s a Black thing!” as he explained to her why he advised his daughter to carry cash on hand at all times.
In the Georgia election crimes case, one of Trump’s eighteen co-defendants filed a challenge to have Willis removed due to a purported conflict of interest, and Willis went on the witness stand on Thursday.
On Friday morning, Floyd and other witnesses were called to resume the hearing.
At one point, one of the attorneys asked Floyd if his daughter ever told him she had “a large, savings of cash.” Floyd told the judge “I’m not trying to be racist” before launching into a story of discrimination to illustrate the reason he trained his daughter to keep cash on hand:
ATTORNEY: Good morning, Mr. Floyd.
JOHN FLOYD III: Good morning, counselor.
ATTORNEY: When your daughter moved or left the house that she owned, did did she say anything to you about having a large savings of cash?
JOHN FLOYD III: Oh, no. She — oh, no, let’s see. Maybe. Excuse me.
And, Your Honor, I’m not trying to be racist, okay?
But it’s a Black thing, okay? You know, I was trained, and most Black folks, they hide cash, so they keep cash, and, I was — no, I train — you always keep some cash because, I’ve been places, and just because of the color of my skin —
For example, I took a fellowship at Harvard when my daughter was just — if I might, Your Honor — my, when I was just, she was just, you know, maybe three years old.
And I remember going to a restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and I had a American Express credit card and maybe a Visa or whatever. And, I had a lot of, what they call traveler’s checks. I don’t even know if they still have traveler’s checks, but traveler’s checks.
And there was a sign said, you know, with the credit card. For whatever reasons, the man would not take my American Express credit card. So I pulled out my Visa card and he wouldn’t take my Visa card. So then I put on my traveler’s checks. He said, we don’t take checks. Now this was these were traveler’s checks. This was money. I had a $10 bill.
I’ll never forget this as long as I live. And, he said, the bill for my wife at the time, Fani’s mother, Fani and myself was like $9.95. I had a $10 bill. That was all that. I always remember that.
But even before that, I’ve always kept cash, you know, and I’ve told my daughter, you keep six months worth of cash. Always.
For example, I have three safes in my house. I put some of my clients’ stuff there too, things I didn’t want other lawyers to be, I mean, because you’re always in a firm. And I knew that there were special conditions.
So some of my clients things I would bring home, put them in the safe.
But I’ve always kept safes. And as a matter of fact, I gave my daughter her first cash box and told her, always keep some cash.
ATTORNEY: So is that a yes?
JOHN FLOYD III: Yeah. Oh, absolutely!
