A judge has mandated that Nathan Wade’s ex-law partner and divorce attorney must testify again on Monday about the timeline of his client’s purported intimate involvement with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Allegations suggest that when Terrence Bradley’s client was selected by the district attorney as the special prosecutor for former President Donald Trump’s Georgia election interference case, he had direct information that Willis and Wade were already romantically involved.
During a hearing on February 15, Bradley cited Wade’s attorney-client privilege as reason for not answering questions about the relationship between the DA and the special prosecutor.
Judge Scott McAfee ruled that the divorce lawyer and his counsel “did not meet their burden of establishing that the communication(s) are covered by attorney-client privilege and therefore the hearing can resume as to Mr. Bradley’s examination,” according to CNN.
“Trump and several of his co-defendants are seeking Willis’ disqualification from the case and to have all charges against them dismissed over the alleged relationship, arguing that the DA benefited financially from the alleged romance and that it compromised the integrity of the case,” the New York Post reported.
“Lawyers for Trump recently revealed that dozens of pings from Wade’s cellphone indicate that the special prosecutor made overnight trips to Willis’ rented condo and communicated with the DA earlier than they have both have previously testified that their relationship began. McAfee will decide on whether to allow the cellphone data as evidence at a Friday hearing, according to Fox News,” the outlet added.
According to court documents, Wade visited Willis’ condo at least 35 times before being hired by Trump’s legal team. Wade testified that he visited the property no more than ten times before his hiring in November 2021.
Willis and Wade stated they began dating in early 2022. Legal analyst Jonathan Turley suggests that newly uncovered evidence may lead a Georgia court to consider prosecuting Fani Willis.
The relationship between Willis and Nathan Wade, who was hired as prosecutor in the racketeering case against former President Donald Trump in 2021 but ended in summer of 2023, has raised questions.
Allegations have been made against Trump and eighteen others for conspiring to interfere with Georgia’s election results favoring Joe Biden in 2020.
Trump has pleaded not guilty and claims the case is politically driven as he seeks the GOP nomination for the 2024 election.
Michael Roman, co-defendant in the case, alleged a personal relationship between Willis and Wade to disqualify her team; he has also pleaded not guilty.
Chief Judge Scott McAfee conducted hearings last week to determine whether Willis should be disqualified from the case.
During her testimony, Willis was asked if Wade had ever visited her home.
Willis then erupted, saying, “So let’s be clear, ’cause you lied in this” while holding up court documents. “It is a lie! It is a lie!”
Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School who testified during Bill Clinton’s impeachment inquiry in 1998 and at an impeachment hearing for Trump in 2019, posted on X (formerly Twitter), saying that they are still waiting for a response from Willis, indicating that the information presented so far is only one side of the story.
Turley suggested that this new evidence could cast a new light on Willis’s combative testimony where she vehemently denied allegations by declaring, ‘It’s a lie. It’s a lie.’
In a supplemental brief filed on Friday, Trump’s attorneys requested McAfee to review fresh evidence, including an affidavit from a private investigator who analyzed Wade’s cellphone location data.
Turley was specifically referring to this piece of evidence.
According to the investigator’s findings, Wade was recorded arriving at Willis’ residence late at night and leaving early in the morning twice in 2021 – once in September and once in November.
Court could refer Fani Willis for prosecution after new evidence: Attorney https://t.co/GQ0ttuCe9z pic.twitter.com/O7sPGfBC6I
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) February 24, 2024
“If the court believes that Willis and Wade lied on the stand, he could refer the matter for possible prosecution…by some other office. He could also consider a referral to the bar. Once again, the insistence on Willis and Wade that they remain in the case is troubling,” Turley wrote in a follow-up X post.
In another post, he added, “There is clearly a growing appearance of impropriety and possible conflicts of interest. It is clear that their continuation in the matter is undermining not just the integrity of the case but that of their office. While many praised Willis for her combative testimony, it only magnified the concerns for many about the underlying personal motivations and interests in the hiring of Nathan Wade.”
Turley communicated to Newsweek via email on Saturday that Willis and Wade ought to “relinquish their roles” in Trump’s Georgia case, noting that their “issues are becoming more serious.”
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