MARIETTA, Ga. — A judge on Monday ordered the release of court records in the divorce involving a special prosecutor hired in the election case against Donald Trump and others and accused of having an affair with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
The judge said records should be unsealed in the divorce case involving Nathan Wade, who a defense attorney says has an inappropriate relationship with Willis. The judge postponed a final decision on whether Willis will have to be questioned in the divorce case, but delayed his deposition that was scheduled for Tuesday.
Willis has defended his hiring of Wade, who has little experience as a prosecutor, and has not directly denied a romantic relationship.
Willis was subpoenaed to testify in the divorce case on the day defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who represents former Trump campaign staffer and former White House aide Michael Roman, filed a motion alleging the inappropriate relationship between Willis and Wade.
Willis accused Wade’s ex-wife of trying to obstruct his criminal election interference case against Trump and others by attempting to question her in the couple’s divorce proceedings.
In a response filed Friday, an attorney for Joycelyn Wade wrote that Nathan Wade has taken trips to San Francisco and Napa Valley, Florida, Belize, Panama and Australia and taken cruises in the Caribbean since filing for divorce and that Willis “was an intended travel companion.” for at least some of these trips, as indicated by the flights he purchased for her to accompany him.”
The filing includes credit card statements showing that Nathan Wade, after being hired as a special prosecutor, purchased plane tickets in October 2022 for him and Willis to travel to Miami and purchased tickets in April to San Francisco in his name. .
Joycelyn Wade’s filing says she seeks to question Willis about “her affair” with Nathan Wade, saying there “does not appear to be a reasonable explanation for her travels other than a romantic relationship.”
Trump and 18 allies were indicted in Georgia for their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state, and prosecutors used a statute typically associated with mobsters to charge the former president, his lawyers and other aides with a “criminal enterprise.” ” to keep him in power. force.