Who is the lead prosecutor forced to resign in Donald Trump’s election interference case? Nathan Wade was found to be dating his boss, district lawyer Fani Willis – but what did his ex-wife have to say?
- Wade was formerly a municipal judge dealing mostly with traffic tickets, and received US$650,000 over a 2-year period for a job that usually went to civil servants
- He was accused of not paying his ex-wife’s medical expenses and stopped supporting his adult children – all while going on extravagant holidays with Willis to Napa Valley and the Bahamas
Nathan Wade was hired as the special prosecutor in former US president Donald Trump’s Georgia election interference case, likely the biggest move of his career. But his lack of experience in the field – he mostly worked in criminal defence and personal injury – raised questions about his appointment.
So just who is Nathan Wade, who appears to have lost his biggest career break thanks to romance?
Donald Trump’s election interference case
In January 2021, Trump famously called Brad Raffensperger, Georgia Secretary of State, and asked him to find more votes. “All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state,” Trump said. The call was recorded and leaked, causing massive controversy over his attempts to “overturn” the election results.
Why did Nathan Wade make headlines?
Willis is the district lawyer of Fulton County, Georgia – and had a romantic relationship with Wade. Willis claims that the relationship began in 2022, after Wade started working for her office. When the legal team of one of Trump’s co-defendants found out in January, they argued that Willis engaged in “self-dealing”, per The New York Times. Willis acknowledged the relationship the following month, but insisted that there was no conflict of interest.
The case drew further criticism after the revelation that Wade had no experience prosecuting criminal cases in Atlanta, Georgia. Before the case, he was an municipal judge “dealing with traffic tickets”, per The Washington Post. His private firm was paid US$650,000 over a two-year period. Wade’s job under Willis would normally go to civil servants, but in this case, Willis opted to hire Wade.
His resignation
