COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade’s estranged wife alleged in a court filing Friday that he spent more than $1,000 on airline tickets for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to accompany him on trips to San Francisco and Miami over the past two years.
It’s the latest development in the ongoing saga surrounding the DA’s Office after a defendant in the 2020 election interference trial accused Wade and Willis of engaging in an improper “romantic relationship that has ultimately yielded substantial income to the special prosecutor.”
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Attorneys for Joycelyn Wade filed the document Friday as she seeks to enforce a subpoena compelling Willis to testify as part of her ongoing divorce case in Cobb County. The filing includes Nathan Wade's purported credit card statements from 2022 and 2023 showing that he paid for an $800 dollar flight to San Francisco and a roughly $500 flight to Miami in the name of "Fani Willis."
American Airlines flight receipts reviewed by 11Alive show that Willis and Nathan Wade flew from Atlanta to Miami on the same early morning flight on Oct. 28, 2022, and they returned to Atlanta on the same Nov. 4 evening flight. Nathan Wade and Willis flew from Atlanta to San Francisco on Delta Airlines last year, the credit card records allegedly show. 11Alive was unable to obtain the Delta receipts.
The credit card expenses allegedly show that Nathan Wade also paid for two Royal Caribbean cruises shortly before purchasing the Miami flight tickets. Wade also allegedly spent more than $800 at a Doubletree Hotel in Napa Valley shortly after purchasing the San Francisco plane tickets in April 2023. 11Alive was unable to independently verify these purchases.
Joycelyn Wade's attorneys allege the trips may be proof that the pair are romantically involved.
“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,” wrote Joycelyn Wade’s attorneys.
Willis is seeking a protective order and asking a judge to block the subpoena. Willis' attorneys allege that Joycelyn Wade "conspired with interested parties in the criminal Election Interference Case to use the civil discovery process to annoy, embarrass, and oppress" Fulton County's top prosecutor.
“Because the parties agree that the marriage is irretrievably broken and the concept of fault is not at issue, there is no information that District Attorney Willis could provide that might prove relevant to granting or denying the divorce,” Willis’ attorneys wrote. “Thus, any information sought from District Attorney Willis would be irrelevant to the divorce proceedings pending in this Court.”
Joycelyn Wade's attorneys seek to depose Willis on Jan. 23. A Cobb County judge will hear arguments on the matter Monday morning.
Former Gwinnett County district attorney Danny Porter said Friday that, if proven true, the allegations of an inappropriate relationship would damage Willis' credibility in the eyes of voters.
But he added that, in his view, it's unlikely Wade or Willis will be disqualified from the prosecution.
"Unless they can show that it was all part of a plan to pay him more money and then she would draw the benefit, more or less a kickback, then it's really irrelevant to the criminal case," Porter said.
Emory Law School professor John Acevedo added that if they were removed from the case, it would "only work as a delay."
"It is likely a new special prosecutor would be appointed and a new indictment obtained," Acevedo said. "Interestingly, this might work to eh disadvantage of the defendants: they are currently claiming that Wade is not competent in the area of RICO law. The new special prosecutor would likely have to be an expert on RICO to ensure no impropriety."
Allegations of an improper romance first surfaced after attorneys for Mike Roman, a defendant in the 2020 election interference case, filed a motion earlier this month seeking to disqualify Willis, Nathan Wade and the Fulton County District Attorney's Office from the case.
Roman's legal team also argued the indictment is "invalid and unconstitutional" because Willis lacked the power to appoint Wade, who assisted in obtaining the indictment.
"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," a portion of Roman's Jan. 8 motion reads. "Accordingly, the district attorney and the special prosecutor have violated laws regulating the use of public monies, suffer from irreparable conflicts of interest, and have violated their oaths of office under the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct and should be disqualified from prosecuting this matter."
Nathan Wade is an outside attorney contracted with the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office to help lead the 2020 election interference case. He was appointed to the case on Nov. 1, 2021. He filed for divorce the following day, according to court records.
Subsequent 11Alive reporting revealed that Nathan Wade has been paid more than $500,000 more than the two other special prosecutors on the case. And in 2020, Nathan Wade’s conduct was called into question after he admitted in a court hearing that he kept no written records from an investigation into jail deaths he was tasked with overseeing.
Willis' office has repeatedly said they will only be commenting in court filings of their own. Nathan Wade has not publicly addressed the allegations.