As former President Donald Trump’s high-profile Georgia election interference case becomes increasingly overshadowed by his co-defendants’ conflict of interest allegations against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, eyes have turned to Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor in the Trump case whose relationship with Willis has put him at the center of those allegations.
Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade, has been accused of having an improper relationship ... [+]
Willis hired Wade in 2022 to prosecute the criminal case against Trump and 18 co-defendants on charges of racketeering, violation of oath by a public officer and conspiracy to impersonate a public officer over Trump’s alleged scheme to overturn the results of his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden—Trump pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Since his hiring, however, Wade has faced accusations that his experience did not qualify him for the lead prosecutor position in the Trump case, with Trump co-defendant Michael Roman arguing in a lawsuit against Willis that Wade’s “lack of experience” does not meet Fulton County standards “given the complexity of the charges.”
Before joining the prosecution in Fulton County, Wade worked as a prosecutor and later as a judge in suburban Cobb County handling low-level criminal cases, the New York Times reported, citing “scant evidence” of his record prosecuting major cases and no evidence of his work on a major political corruption case similar to the one Trump faces in Georgia.
Wade’s record as a prosecutor primarily involves criminal defense and personal injury cases, multiple outlets reported, while his law firm, Wade & Campbell, lauds him as a “zealous advocate” with experience representing clients after major car accidents and contract disputes.
Wade, who graduated from John Marshall Law School in Chicago (now part of the University of Illinois at Chicago), has also served as an assistant county solicitor—a position that handles misdemeanor cases—and ran unsuccessfully on three occasions for a seat on the bench of the Cobb County Superior Court between 2012 and 2016.
Between 2011 and 2021, Wade served as an associate municipal judge in Marietta, Georgia—just north of Atlanta—becoming the first Black man to serve as a municipal judge in the Atlanta suburb.
Since his hiring on the Trump case, Wade has faced criticism from multiple co-defendants, including four defendants who requested a “sanction” against Wade, including his potential “disqualification,” after Wade’s law office sent an unsolicited brochure depicting his smiling face and an advertisement for legal services to multiple defendants just weeks after their indictment in the case, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the election interference case, rejected requests for punishment, finding the brochure was not sent intentionally, while admitting it was “embarrassing” for prosecutors. An attorney for Trump co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro also alleged Wade did not file the necessary oath of office to join the prosecution in a bid to dismiss Wade from the case—McAfee rejected that argument, saying the oath requirements do not apply to contractors on a single case.
Nearly $654,000. That’s how much Wade has been paid by the Fulton County District Attorney’s office since January 2022, according to Fulton County records.
Nathan Wade was thrown into the national spotlight in the midst of two cases involving his estranged marriage with Joycelyn Wade. The saga began last month when Roman filed a lawsuit seeking to disqualify Willis from prosecuting the election interference case on the grounds that her “improper, clandestine personal relationship” with Wade constituted a conflict of interest and violated public money laws, with Wade receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in pay. Bank records also revealed Wade and Willis went on at least two vacations together: one to the Caribbean and one to Napa Valley, California. In Roman’s suit, the Trump co-defendant cited sources close to the matter, as well as Wade’s ongoing divorce proceedings with his wife. The same day Roman filed his complaint, attorneys representing Joycelyn Wade subpoenaed Willis in the divorce proceedings, with Willis set to testify at a hearing on Wednesday. That hearing, however, was abruptly canceled when Nathan and Joycelyn Wade agreed to a temporary settlement to resolve their divorce.
The GOP-led House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Willis as part of a separate investigation into allegations her office planned to misuse a federal grant from the Department of Justice earmarked for a youth empowerment program. In a court filing on Friday, committee Chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) argued Willis’ office planned to use nearly $500,000 in federal funding from the grant on “frivolous, unrelated expenses,” including on MacBooks and travel costs—Willis denied the allegations. Jordan also accused Willis of firing a whistleblower who reportedly attempted to prevent the funds from being misused—Willis claimed the staffer was “terminated for cause.”
After two weeks of accusations, Wade broke his silence Friday morning, admitting to having a “personal relationship” with Willis in an affidavit filed in Fulton County Superior Court, though he denied any wrongdoing in his relationship with the district attorney. Wade also argued he had “no financial interest” in Trump’s election interference case, and stressed that no income he received as special prosecutor was “shared with or provided to” Willis. Wade’s affidavit was included in a 176-page court filing Willis submitted Friday morning, in which the district attorney rejected Trump’s request for her to be removed from the case, reiterating her argument that the case for her dismissal has no legal merit. McAfee has scheduled a Feb. 15 hearing on whether to dismiss Willis from the case.
Trump, who has repeatedly targeted Willis throughout his election interference case, criticized Willis once again in a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Friday, claiming she was “able to get her ‘lover’ much more money, almost a Million Dollars, than she would be able to get for the prosecution of any other person or individual,” by bringing charges against Trump.
Georgia Trump Prosecutor Wade Settles Divorce Case—As DA Fani Willis Called To Testify (Forbes)
House GOP Subpoenas Fulton County DA Fani Willis Amid Trump Criminal Case (Forbes)