When Nathan Wade was appointed lead prosecutor in the Georgia election interference case in 2021 to prosecute former President Donald Trump, some of his closest allies, lawyers in Cobb County where Wade practiced law, universally wondered, “Why him?”
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had the largest staff of any judicial circuit in Georgia, including salaried lawyers with more experience as felony prosecutors. Wade had once been a prosecutor briefly, but mostly handled misdemeanors and never such a high-profile case.
More than two years later, questions are surfacing about Wade’s role. One of Trump’s co-defendants facing criminal charges over efforts to overturn the 2020 election has alleged in court papers that Wade is romantically involved with Willis and used money he billed the district attorney’s office for his work on the case to take her on lavish vacations.
While the filing didn’t include direct evidence of their romantic involvement, Willis was served this week with a subpoena to appear at a deposition in Wade’s divorce proceedings.
Pallavi Bailey, a spokesperson for Willis, told CNN that the office will respond to the allegations “through appropriate court filings.”
Wade has not responded to CNN’s requests for comment and was smiling as he walked into a scheduled Friday afternoon motions hearing regarding multiple matters related to the case.
The situation has created a political firestorm for Willis, with Trump and his co-defendant arguing Wade, Willis and the entire district attorney’s office should be taken off the case. The allegations, if true, may not derail the prosecution, but multiple lawyers tell CNN that the appearance of a conflict of interest could hurt Willis’ chances of securing a conviction before a jury.
The judge overseeing the case said on Friday that he planned to…
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