FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — (UPDATE, 2/15/2024: You can watch a hearing on the motions to disqualify Fani Willis and Nathan Wade live at this link.)
The special prosecutor helping to lead the Fulton County election interference case has been paid over half a million dollars more than other special prosecutors on the case, newly obtained records show. The special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, is also under scrutiny after a court filing alleges he was engaged in a romantic relationship with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
In a filing last week, Trump co-defendant Michael Roman’s lawyer, Ashleigh Merchant (no relation to this author), filed a motion accusing Willis and special prosecutor Wade of engaging in “a personal, romantic relationship that has ultimately yielded substantial income to the special prosecutor.”
That filing included no concrete proof of those allegations and, so far, no additional proof has been offered.
Willis alluded to the allegations for the first time publicly in a speech Sunday at Atlanta’s historic Big Bethel A.M.E. Church. She openly questioned why “so many others question my decision in the special counsel.”
“I’m a little confused,” she said. “I appointed three special counsel as is my right to do, paid them all the same hourly rate, they only attack one.”
Newly-obtained public records from Fulton County suggest Wade was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars more than the other special prosecutors on the case.
Those records indicate the DA’s office paid special prosecutor John Floyd's law firm Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore close to $73,000 between 2022 and 2023.
Special Prosecutor Anna Cross's law firms — Cross Kincaid and The Cross Firm LLC — were paid a total of roughly $90,000 during the same years, records show.
Over the same time period, Fulton County records show the DA’s office paid The Law Offices of Nathan J. Wade approximately $653,880.
“Those figures sound radically off, but if he did the vast majority of work and they were just consulting, those figures may be accurate,” said Emory University law school professor John Acevedo.
According to Acevedo, it’s not uncommon for district attorney’s offices to hire special prosecutors for complex cases like the ongoing Georgia election interference case where former President Donald Trump is among the defendants.
“The piece of information that we need to find from the district attorney’s office is ‘how many billable hours did each of them put in and is that reflective of the actual work product that was produced?’” said Acevedo.
The Fulton County District Attorney's Office declined to comment for this story. In an email, a spokesman wrote that the Office would only be commenting "in motions and in court."
Wade did not respond to requests for comment as of time of publication.
His conduct has been called into question in the past. In a 2020 lawsuit, Wade testified that he kept no written records during a five-month period where was supposedly leading a third-party investigation of jail deaths in Cobb County.
At her Sunday Speech, Willis referenced one current Fulton County commissioner by name.
“Why does Commissioner Thorne and so many others question my decision in the special counsel?” asked Willis.
On Tuesday, Thorne said she’d continue to pay close attention to the DA’s spending.
“I feel I have every right to ask questions,” she said. “What are we spending on? How much is this costing us? Is this a wise use?”