


The top prosecutor in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump purchased at least two airline trips with District Attorney Fani Willis while the investigation was ongoing, according to court documents filed Friday.
The stunning disclosure came to light in bank statements filed as part of Georgia prosecutor Nathan Wade’s divorce case. It also raises a fresh set of ethical questions surrounding Ms. Willis and whether she violated the rules of professional conduct by accepting gifts from her employee — who is also her alleged boyfriend.
Lawyers for Mr. Wade’s estranged wife, Joycelyn Mayfield Wade, filed the documents to force Ms. Willis to testify in the divorce proceeding. Ms. Willis, who is accused of having an extramarital affair with Mr. Wade, filed court documents Thursday laying out the case for why she shouldn’t have to testify.
The plane tickets, however, may add credence to the claims that the pair were involved in an improper personal relationship.
Mr. Wade purchased roundtrip tickets for himself and Ms. Willis from Atlanta to San Francisco in April on Delta Airlines and also bought himself and Ms. Willis roundtrip tickets from Atlanta to Miami in October 2022 on American Airlines, the bank statements revealed.
The statements do not disclose if Ms. Willis reimbursed Mr. Wade for the tickets or explain the reason for the trip.
However, two other line items on the statements show Mr. Wade made payments to the DoubleTree Napa Valley hotel on May 14 of last year, one month after purchasing the tickets to San Francisco. The statements also show he purchased two tickets on a Royal Caribbean cruise on the same day he purchased tickets to Miami.
Neither Mr. Wade nor Ms. Willis responded to a request for comment from The Washington Times.
Mr. Wade, who is working as a special prosecutor, and Ms. Willis are both at the center of a legal firestorm. Trump co-defendant Michael Roman has accused Mr. Wade of having a covert affair with Ms. Willis, including taking vacations with her and earning more than $650,000 in taxpayer money over the past two years.
On Thursday, a judge in the Trump case set a Feb. 15 hearing on the matter.
Mr. Wade filed for divorce from his wife of 26 years, Joycelyn, the day after Ms. Willis hired him in 2021. It has created a three-ring court circus of nasty divorce proceedings taking center stage in the politically charged Trump case.
Last week, a judge in the divorce case cited Mr. Wade for contempt for failing to turn over financial information.
Ms. Willis has disputed the allegations, saying the allegations are an “attempt to harass and damage her professional reputation,” according to a motion filed by her private lawyer to avoid testifying in the divorce case.
“Joycelyn Wade has conspired with interested parties in the criminal Election Interference Case to use the civil discovery process to annoy, embarrass, and oppress,” her attorney wrote.
In the Trump criminal case, Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee will hear arguments next month on Mr. Roman’s request to dismiss the indictment or remove Mr. Wade, Ms. Willis and the district attorney’s office from the case.
Mr. Trump also has used the sordid allegations to attack Ms. Willis on social media.
Ms. Willis defended herself at a Jan. 14 church service in Atlanta. She didn’t name Mr. Wade, but praised him as a “superstar, great friend and great lawyer.” She suggested the allegations were racially motivated because he signaled out the Black prosecutor in the case but not the two White prosecutors.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.