Special prosecutor Nathan Wade quits Trump Ga. case

ATLANTA, Ga. - A special prosecutor who had a romantic relationship with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis formally withdrew Friday from the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump after a judge ruled one of them had to leave the case for it to move forward.

Attorney Nathan Wade’s role in the prosecution had come under fire since an attorney representing one of Trump’s co-defendants alleged in early January that Wade and Willis were involved in an inappropriate relationship that resulted in Willis profiting improperly from the prosecution.

Since early January, Willis has been facing allegations she misused taxpayer funds and crossed ethical boundaries during her romantic relationship with Wade.

Wade offered his resignation in a letter to Willis, saying he was doing so “in the interest of democracy, in dedication to the American public and to move this case forward as quickly as possible.”

Willis complimented Wade’s “professionalism and dignity” in a letter accepting his resignation, saying he has “endured threats against you and your family, as well as unjustified attacks in the media and in court on your reputation as a lawyer.”

READ THE RESIGNATION LETTER:

In accepting the resignation, Willis made clear her determination to turn the page from weeks of distracting headlines, but the long-term damage to the public perception of the case remains unclear, particularly in light of Trump’s relentless barrage against the pair and the prosecution.

For weeks, embarrassing headlines about romantic getaways, sex and stashes of cash have consumed the coverage, turning the prosecution of a former president accused of undermining the will of the people who voted him out of the White House into a soap opera.

On March 1, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee heard three hours worth of closing arguments from attorneys representing Willis and some of Trump’s co-defendants, and said he hoped to make a decision on the case “over the next two weeks.” That two-week window expired Friday.

“As the case moves forward, reasonable of the public could easily be left to wonder whether the financial exchanges have continued resulting in some form of benefit to the District Attorney, or even whether the romantic relationship has resumed,” McAfee wrote.

“Put differently, an outsider could reasonably think that the District Attorney is not exercising her independent professional judgment totally free of any compromising influences. As long as Wade remains on the case, this unnecessary perception will persist,” he wrote.

Willis is the locally elected district attorney who issued dozens of indictments in August 2023 accusing the nation’s 45th president and his allies of trying to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results.

“As alleged, the claims presented a possible financial conflict of interest for the District Attorney,” McAfee’s order said. “More importantly, the defense motions and the State’s response created a conflict in the evidence that could only be resolved through an evidentiary hearing, and one that could not simply be ignored without endangering a criminally accused’s constitutional right to procedural due process.

“After receiving two and a half days of testimony, during which the Defendants were provided an opportunity to subpoena and introduce whatever relevant and material evidence they could muster, the Court finds that the Defendants failed to meet their burden of proving that the District Attorney acquired an actual conflict of interest in this case through her personal relationship and recurring travels with her lead prosecutor,” McAfee wrote. “The other alleged grounds for disqualification, including forensic misconduct, are also denied.

“However, the established record now highlights a significant appearance of impropriety that infects the current structure of the prosecution team - an appearance that must be removed through the State’s selection of one of two options. The Defendants’ motions are therefore granted in part.”

McAfee wrote that an “odor of mendacity,” or untruthfulness, remains around the case.

An attorney for Trump said the former president’s team respects the court’s decision but believes the judge “did not afford appropriate significance to the prosecutorial misconduct of Willis and Wade.”

“We will use all legal options available as we continue to fight to end this case, which should never have been brought in the first place,” defense attorney Steve Sadow said.

Defense attorneys could try to appeal the ruling, but they would need the judge’s permission to do so.

READ THE JUDGE’S ORDER:

On Wednesday, McAfee wrote that six of the charges in the indictment must be quashed, including three against Trump. But the order leaves intact many other charges in the indictment and McAfee wrote prosecutors could seek a new indictment on the charges he dismissed.

The six charges dismissed were related to soliciting elected officials to violate their oaths of office. That includes two charges related to the phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, on Jan. 2, 2021.

Last month, two days of often-explosive testimony rocked the internationally watched criminal indictment of the nation’s 45th president. During their disqualification hearing, Willis and Wade both said their romantic relationship began after Willis hired Wade, and that it had since ended.

However, three weeks ago, Trump’s Georgia attorneys filed a court document showing a private investigator’s review of Wade’s cellphone calls and texts. The document shows the couple engaged in thousands of calls and texts months before Wade was hired.

Using a cellular geo-mapping and analysis program called CellHawk, Charles Mittlestadt’s report revealed “more than 2,000 voice calls and just under 12,000 text messages exchanged over the 11-month period in 2021,” Friday’s court filing said. “A heat map ... highlights the interaction patterns which demonstrate a prevalence of calls made in the evening hours.”

Mittlestadt’s investigation also indicates Wade made at least 35 visits to the Hapeville condo where Willis was living at the time. The property was owned by Robin Bryant-Yeartie, who also testified the duo’s relationship began before Wade’s hiring.

On the stand, Wade said he’d visited Willis at the condo no more than 10 times before he was hired in November 2021. Middelstadt’s report alleges Wade twice arrived late at night at the condo and left early the next morning, again before the couple said their romantic relationship began.

Three weeks ago, Terrence Bradley, Wade’s former law partner and divorce lawyer, testified he does not know when Wade began his romantic relationship with Willis.

Under repeated questioning from Ashleigh Merchant, who represents one of Trump’s co-defendants in the racketeering indictment, Bradley also said he didn’t know when he first learned of the relationship.

Bradley said he recalled Wade telling him at some point he was dating Willis, but said he did not any other time Wade told him about the relationship.

“I recall him stating that at some point they were dating,” Bradley said on Tuesday. “I can’t tell you what date that was, it was made in confidence, we were in the back of our office, our offices were the only two in the back, and there was no one else present. That is all I can tell you at this time.”

The questioning started in early January, when a court filing by Michael Roman, one of Trump’s co-defendants, and Merchant, his attorney, accused Willis and special prosecutor Wade of having a romantic relationship.

Roman is a former White House aide who served as the director of Trump’s election day operations. Prosecutors allege Roman was involved in efforts to put forth a set of fake electors after the 2020 election, a charge to which Roman has pleaded not guilty.

Roman’s court filing claims Willis and Wade took lavish vacations together and that Wade used part of his salary from the district attorney’s office to travel with Willis. Merchant also claims to have discovered “outside of court filings” that Willis and Wade went on trips together.

Trump and 18 of his GOP allies were indicted by Willis and her office in August 2023 on charges they engaged in a criminal conspiracy to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results. That election saw Democrat Joe Biden become the first Democrat to carry a deep Southern state in a presidential election since Bill Clinton’s victory in 1992.

Merchant became the the first person to be subpoenaed before a newly formed special Georgia senate committee emed to investigate Willis.

Merchant discussed much of the evidence she’s presented in court already: bank statements showing Willis and Wade took vacations and cruises together while working the case, phone records that show Wade would often spend the night at Willis’ then-home, billing invoices that showed a 24-hour day and revealed calendar details like a meeting between Willis and Vice President Kamala Harris just months before the indictment was issued.

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