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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Abené Clayton

Prosecutor in Trump elections case will not have to testify on alleged romance

Black man wearing grey suit and red tie speaks into microphone.
Nathan Wade at a motions hearing for Donald Trump's election interference case at the Lewis R Slaton courthouse, in Atlanta, Georgia, on 12 January 2024. Photograph: Elijah Nouvelage/EPA

Nathan Wade, the lead prosecutor in the case against Donald Trump over his alleged plot to overturn the 2020 election has entered into a “temporary agreement” with his estranged wife, according to a filing posted on social media. This agreement means that special prosecutor Wade will avoid having to testify in a court hearing that was scheduled for Wednesday.

During the now-canceled hearing, Wade was expected to shed light on his financial dealings and purchase of plane tickets for himself and Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis in 2022 and 2023, according to the Washington Post. The pair have been under increased scrutiny since 8 January when Michael Roman, a veteran Republican operative and one of the former president’s co-defendants filed a motion to Fulton county’s superior court that sought to disqualify Willis and Wade from the case.

Roman alleged that the pair were in a romantic relationship and that Wade, who was hired by Willis, used his attorney’s fees paid to him by the district attorney’s office to purchase vacations for the pair. Roman argued that while Wade was allowed to spend his earnings as he pleased, him using the money to Willis’s benefit in the form of flights and hotel stays presented a conflict of interest

Wade’s credit statements, made public via a motion filed in his divorce proceedings, show that Wade paid for two trips for him and Willis; one to Miami in October 2022 and another to the Napa Valley in April 2023. Neither attorney has publicly confirmed or denied a relationship.

Wade filed for divorce from his wife Joycelyn Wade on 2 November 2021, the day after Willis appointed him as special counsel in the Trump case, court records show. The divorce grew ugly after Joycelyn complained that her estranged husband was withholding information about his finances, including income from working on the Trump case.

Willis was expected to respond to the allegations in a court filing that was due on 2 February, but the agreement between the Wades will allow her to avoid filing.

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