Things went less than well for Fani Willis on Monday, as Cobb County Superior Court Judge Henry Thompson decided to unseal the divorce case for Nathan Wade. Wade is the alleged lover of DA Willis who is also one of the special prosecutors in Willis’ case against former President Donald Trump and more than a dozen of his campaign officials and legal team members from 2020.
As background, the legal team for Michael Roman, a Trump Campaign official who is a co-defendant in the case, alleged that DA Willis was conducting an affair with Mr. Wade in an early January legal filing. They wrote, “Mr. Roman also moves the Court for an order disqualifying the district attorney, her office, and the special prosecutor from further prosecuting the instant matter on the grounds that the district attorney and the special prosecutor have been engaged in an improper, clandestine personal relationship during the pendency of this case, which has resulted in the special prosecutor, and, in turn, the district attorney, profiting significantly from this prosecution at the expense of the taxpayers.”
Then, as conservatives dug into that relationship, it emerged that DA Willis appears to have paid Wade a higher hourly fee than she initially paid the top RICO expert in the state, despite Wade having no experience in RICO cases. Revealed documents also appear to show that Wade, after being employed by Willis as special prosecutor,bought tickets in her name.
Now, the divorce case records have been unsealed thanks to Judge Thompson. The unsealing came as a result of a request from the defense attorney who is arguing that there was an inappropriate relationship between DA Willis and Mr. Wade. However, the unsealed court records, the Associated Press reports, do not appear to include any references to the affair allegations.
DA Willis, who has not directly denied the affair allegations, accused Mr. Wade’s wife of trying to obstruct her RICO case against Trump and his associates by demanding the opportunity to question her as part of the divorce proceedings. Judge Thompson did not make a final ruling on if DA Willis will have to sit for questioning in the divorce case, the AP reports.
Arguing against DA Willis, the lawyer for Joycelyn Wade, Mr. Wade’s estranged wife, pointed to the trips that Mr. Wade and DA Willis took together. He pointed to their joint trips to Napa Valley, Florida, Belize, Panama, and Australia, along with Caribbean cruises, and argued that Willis “was an intended travel partner for at least some of these trips as indicated by flights he purchased for her to accompany him.”
Further, Joycelyn Wade’s attorney, Andrea Hastings, argued that DA Willis is trying to hide the facts by resisting the attempts to question her. Hastings argued, “She’s not seeking protection . . . She’s seeking prohibition of our ability to access facts.”
Continuing, Hastings added that DA Willis is attempting to use her position to shield herself, saying, “She’s trying to hide under the shield of her position,” Hastings then added, “Whatever her job is has nothing to do with whether or not she should have to sit for this deposition.”
