Former Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade on Sunday spoke out about his relationship with a Georgia county’s district attorney who is prosecuting former President Donald Trump.
Nathan Wade left his post several weeks ago after a Fulton County judge ruled that either he or Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis must go. Ms. Willis is currently overseeing the case against President Trump, but her efforts were almost derailed entirely after it was revealed that she and Mr. Wade were in a secretive relationship.
In an interview with ABC News on Sunday, Mr. Wade claimed that “workplace romances are as American as apple pie” and that “it happens to everyone,” including “the two of us,” referring to himself and Ms. Willis.
When asked if he regretted the relationship, Mr. Wade appeared to be evasive. “I regret that that private matter became the focal point of this very important prosecution,” he responded. “This is a very important case.”
Court papers filed by a Trump co-defendant in the case, Michael Roman, alleged that Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade also inappropriately financially benefitted from the arrangement, which the two denied. They ultimately, however, confirmed that they were involved in a relationship during a court hearing in March, although they denied key details that were included in the court documents.
“I hate that my personal life has begun to overshadow the true issues in the case,” Mr. Wade told ABC.
Judge Scott McAfee in March sharply criticized both Mr. Wade and Ms. Willis, but he stopped short of removing the district attorney.
In the order, Judge McAfee noted that an “odor of mendacity remains” over the circumstances of the relationship before Mr. Wade submitted a letter announcing his resignation from the case. The judge said there was not enough evidence to prove that there was a conflict of interest at play.
President Trump’s lawyers have since appealed the ruling, arguing that she should be taken off the case. The Georgia Court of Appeals hasn’t confirmed if it will take up the appeal.
In the interview, Mr. Wade was asked by the ABC News reporter if he thought to pause their relationship while the case plays out. He said he did but “the feelings [were] so strong.”
“Absolutely, absolutely. I'll concede that that could have been, an approach,” he said. “But there again, when you are in the middle of it, these feelings are developing and you get to a point where the feelings are, are so strong that, you know, you start to want to do things that really are none of the public’s concern.”
Four defendants in the case, including attorney Sidney Powell, have pleaded guilty and taken plea deals. President Trump and 14 other defendants have pleaded not guilty. However, no trial date has been set so far, and some legal analysts say that it’s unlikely the case will make it to trial before the November election.
On Friday, Fulton County leaders testified before a special state Senate committee that they had no legal power to control Ms. Willis’ spending or her hiring of Mr. Wade as special prosecutor in the case.
A Republican-led state Senate committee is probing her hiring of Mr. Wade to lead the team that investigated and charged President Trump, lawyers, and other aides in the Georgia case.
Ms. Willis told reporters last week that she had done nothing wrong.
“They can look all they want,” she said during a news conference. “The DA’s office has done everything according to the books. We are following the law. I’m sorry that folks get mad when everybody in society can be prosecuted.”
However, the lawyer who initiated the effort to remove Ms. Willis, Ashleigh Merchant, has also claimed that Mr. Wade’s hiring by the district attorney’s office violated a state law that required approval of the hiring of a special prosecutor by the county commission.
“I think the clear language of the statute says that that requires county approval, and especially where it’s funded by the county,” state Sen. Bill Cowsert told reporters last week, referring to Mr. Wade’s hiring.
Ms. Willis also again appeared to invoke her race during the news conference. “Isn’t it interesting when we got a bunch of African-American DAs, now we need daddy to tell us what to do,” Ms. Willis said. “So y'all can go put that in your sound bite for today, but today I am here so I can reach my community, and this is really messing up my business.”
Lawyers for President Trump have filed court papers alleging that Ms. Willis should be removed from the case because of previous remarks she made at an Atlanta church in January in which she suggested that she and Mr. Wade were being targeted because they’re black. In the aforementioned ruling, Judge McAfee admonished Ms. Willis for those remarks and suggested they could get her removed.
