January 21, 2024
Legal Drama Unfolds As Atlanta DA Fani Willis Faces Allegations And Inquiry Over Relationship With Prosecutor Nathan Wade
Jocelyn Wade’s accusations mirror those of one of Trump trial co-defendants, Michael Roman. Roman alleges Willis and Nathan Wade were engaged in an improper and adulterous affair.
As part of the divorce proceedings between Jocelyn and Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor in the Georgia election fraud case against former President Donald Trump and 14 others, Jocelyn is alleging that an improper relationship developed between Fani Willis, the Fulton County District Attorney, and Nathan, who was married at the time.
As USA Today reported, Jocelyn’s accusations mirror those of one of the co-defendants in the election fraud case, Michael Roman. Roman alleged on Jan. 8 that Willis and Wade were engaged in an improper and adulterous affair, alleging that Wade spent some of the $650,000 that Willis’s office paid him to fund trips with Willis, which included romantic getaways to the Napa Valley and Caribbean cruises. Roman also claimed that Wade was improperly hired, saying he was unqualified because of a lack of experience.
Spokespersons for Willis and the District Attorney’s Office did not respond to USA Today’s request for comments, but they have stated before that Willis would address the claims in a response via the court system. On Jan. 18, Superior Judge Scott McAfee gave Willis a Feb. 2 deadline to respond to the accusations from Roman. Roman wants to have Willis, Wade, and the District Attorney’s Office either dismissed from the case or have it thrown out completely. Roman’s motion, it should be noted, contained no proof of his allegations.
On Jan. 19, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners began an inquiry into Willis’s potential misuse of funds due to hiring Wade and accepting valuable gifts like paid joint trips from him. Bob Ellis, the Audit Committee Chair called the move a “request for information at this stage, not an investigation” in a statement given to USA Today. The request reads, in part: “Separate from any potential inquiry by the State of Georgia, this situation requires confirmation of whether County funds provided for the operation of your office and its prosecutorial function were used in an appropriate manner, and whether any payments of County funds to Mr. Wade were converted to your personal gain in the form of subsidized travel or other gifts.”
Jocelyn’s divorce filing makes the argument that she should be allowed to depose Willis about her alleged relationship with Nathan, but Willis has resisted this, saying that she doesn’t know anything that would be considered relevant in the divorce case. Jocelyn’s lawyer, Andrea Dyer Hastings, filed a motion on Jan. 19, calling Willis’s claims “disingenuous,” “specious,” and claimed that Willis “has information and knowledge directly relevant to the alleged conduct of the Plaintiff that the Court would consider as to equitable division of the marital estate, dissipation of marital assets, and spousal support.”
As it pertains to Nathan Wade, Hastings’ filing claims that he didn’t inform his wife about the appointment nor the “substantial income he has been receiving throughout this divorce case as a result” of his appointment. Hastings also says in the filing that Nathan left Jocelyn “with little means of financial support while simultaneously spending tens of thousands of dollars per month on a very lavish lifestyle.”
The motion reads, in part: “The evidence is clear that Ms. Willis was an intended travel partner for at least some of these trips as indicated by flights he purchased for her to accompany him.” The motion continues, “Defendant seeks to depose Ms. Willis in order to determine details surrounding her romantic affair with Plaintiff, as there appears to be no reasonable explanation for their travels apart from a romantic relationship.”
Finally, the brief states, “Contrary to Ms. Willis’s belief, the Defendant is not utilizing the deposition to harass her,” the motion says, “but rather to seek pertinent information from her husband’s paramour regarding her relationship with Plaintiff and the extent of the Plaintiff’s financial involvement in the same.”
Willis made comments at a church on Jan. 14, which some took as eye raising, but according to the transcript printed by Atlanta News First, Willis appears to have been more concerned with the dangers that she has been facing and how her faith has sustained her instead of the allegations about the affair with Nathan Wade. She did defend Wade’s qualifications as well as those of her team, but that is about as far as her guest sermon went towards any real or material discussion of the trial.
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