Prosecutor on Trump Georgia Case Avoids Testifying in Divorce Proceeding
The prosecutor, Nathan Wade, might have been forced to address allegations of a romantic relationship with his boss, Fani T. Willis, at a divorce hearing this week.
Nathan Wade was hired by the Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis, in 2021 to help run the Trump case. Pool photo by John David Mercer
By Richard Fausset and Danny Hakim Richard Fausset reported from Atlanta and Danny Hakim from New Jersey
Jan. 30, 2024
The special prosecutor leading the election interference case against former President Donald J. Trump will not have to testify this week about an alleged romantic relationship with his boss, Fani T. Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, after reaching a temporary agreement in his divorce case on Tuesday.
The agreement between the special prosecutor, Nathan J. Wade, and his wife, Joycelyn Wade, leaves unanswered for the time being a question that has created potential peril for Ms. Willis’s high-profile prosecution of Mr. Trump and 14 of his allies.
Ms. Willis hired Mr. Wade, a lawyer in private practice, in 2021 to help run the Trump case, saying that she needed a trustworthy confidant for the job. But a filing three weeks ago .. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/08/us/fani-willis-trump-georgia-defendant.html .. from one of Mr. Trump’s co-defendants, Michael Roman, claimed that the two prosecutors were romantically involved and had taken vacations paid for by Mr. Wade.
Mr. Roman argues that this amounts to a conflict of interest, and is grounds for removing both prosecutors, as well as Ms. Willis’s entire office, from the case.
So far, neither Mr. Wade nor Ms. Willis have confirmed or denied the allegations of a relationship. But in recent days, it seemed increasingly likely that Mr. Wade would be forced to address the claims at a divorce hearing on Wednesday, where he was expected to take the stand.
The hearing was scuttled at the last minute, with an agreement announced by the judge on Tuesday afternoon. “We can confirm that this is a temporary agreement in place while the final details are worked out,” said a spokeswoman for Andrea Dyer Hastings, Ms. Wade’s divorce lawyer.
Ms. Hastings further explained on Tuesday evening that “while this negates the immediate need for a hearing, it does not settle the case.” She added that the issues of temporary alimony and attorneys’ fees “have been resolved.” The couples’ children are adults.
Mr. Wade married Ms. Wade in 1997 and filed for divorce more than two years ago.
Ms. Willis has until Friday to respond to Mr. Roman’s filing. It is not clear whether she will address the relationship allegations in her response.
The filing from Mr. Roman, a former Trump campaign staff member, did not offer proof of the romantic relationship between the prosecutors. But it said that they had been seen “in a personal relationship capacity” around Atlanta, and claimed that people close to both of them had confirmed it.
Mr. Wade has reaped more than $650,000 in legal fees since Ms. Willis hired him in November 2021. Mr. Roman’s filing said that Ms. Willis, by taking vacations that Mr. Wade paid for, had been “profiting significantly from this prosecution at the expense of the taxpayers.” That, he said, was the conflict of interest.
The allegations do not change the underlying facts of the case, which assert that Mr. Trump and his allies engaged in a plot to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Four of the 19 original defendants have already pleaded guilty, including some of Mr. Trump’s staunchest defenders. One of them, Jenna Ellis, said tearfully during a hearing late last year that she looked back on what she did “with deep remorse ..https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/24/us/jenna-ellis-guilty-trump-georgia.html .”
Legal experts disagree on the strength of Mr. Roman’s filing, and whether it will convince the presiding judge in the case, Scott McAfee of Fulton County Superior Court, that the prosecution team should be removed. Mr. Roman’s filing also asks that the seven felony charges against him be dismissed.
But the accusations have created other serious complications for Ms. Willis. Fulton County has begun an inquiry and asked Ms. Willis to provide numerous documents, including invoices and payments to special prosecutors; the county commission does not, however, have the power to remove the elected district attorney.
A new commission established by Republican lawmakers to oversee prosecutors is expected to review Ms. Willis’s conduct, and could pose a graver threat. Though the legislature has not yet determined the extent of the commission’s powers, it will most likely be able to punish or remove Georgia prosecutors.
Also on Tuesday, Ashleigh Merchant, Mr. Roman’s lawyer, filed a lawsuit against the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, accusing the office of “intentionally withholding information in advance of scheduled evidentiary hearings.”
Ms. Merchant stated that she had filed public records requests for a variety of documents but had not received some of them, including invoices for payments from the office to Mr. Wade in 2023 and copies of reimbursements to Ms. Willis for travel expenses.
A correction was made on Jan. 30, 2024: An earlier version of this article misidentified the status of Nathan Wade’s divorce case. He and his wife reached a temporary agreement, not a settlement. The error was repeated in a headline and push notification.
When we learn of a mistake, we acknowledge it with a correction. If you spot an error, please let us know at nytnews@nytimes.com.Learn more
Richard Fausset, based in Atlanta, writes about the American South, focusing on politics, culture, race, poverty and criminal justice. More about Richard Fausset
Danny Hakim is an investigative reporter. He has been a European economics correspondent and bureau chief in Albany and Detroit. He was also a lead reporter on the team awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News. More about Danny Hakim
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