Nathan Wade, the outside special prosecutor appointed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to oversee her criminal racketeering case against Donald Trump, bought plane tickets for the DA for joint trips, according to credit card statements included in a Friday court filing obtained by NBC News.
Michael Roman, a co-defendant in the Trump case, had previously accused the pair of misconduct, claiming they had “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.”
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has scheduled a hearing on the charges for February 15.
The credit card records showing Wade purchasing tickets for himself and Willis to fly to San Francisco and Miami in 2022 and 2023 were submitted to a filing by Wade’s estranged wife, Joycelyn Wade, in the couple’s divorce lawsuit in Cobb County, Georgia.
The District Attorney’s office declined to comment on the credit card statements.
A member of Fulton County’s board of commissioners stated in a statement Friday that he will conduct a “full investigation” into charges that Willis had an inappropriate connection with Wade.
“Under no circumstances should an elected official contract with or hire someone who they are in a romantic relationship with,” said Commissioner Bob Ellis, adding that in the absence of such a relationship, “accepting favors and extravagant gifts from such contractors should also be considered improper.”
Ellis, chairman of the county’s audit committee, addressed a letter to Willis on Friday asking for records relating to special prosecutor appointments, as well as payment and invoices for special prosecutor services dating back to January 1, 2021.
In a filing on Thursday, Willis accused Joycelyn Wade of attempting to “harass” her and “damage her professional reputation” by subpoenaing her for a deposition in the divorce lawsuit. Willis claimed that his wife had “conspired with interested parties in the Criminal Election Interference Case to use the civil discovery process to annoy, embarrass and oppress District Attorney Willis.”
The DA stated that the Wades have been separated since 2021 and have acknowledged in court files that their marriage is “irretrievably broken,” and that she has no evidence “that might prove relevant to granting or denying the divorce.”
Joycelyn Wade presented a different picture in her filing, which was originally reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, claiming Willis knows about her husband’s assets.
She stated that her spouse filed for divorce on November 2, 2021, the day after Willis designated him as special prosecutor. Joycelyn Wade said she was kept in the dark about the appointment, which resulted in “substantial income” for her husband, of which she was unaware.
According to the court complaint, Nathan Wade had left her “with little means of financial support while simultaneously spending tens of thousands of dollars per month on a very lavish lifestyle.”
“Since filing for divorce, Plaintiff has been to San Francisco and Napa Valley, Florida, and even on Caribbean cruises, as well as a vacation to Belize, Panama, and, most recently, Australia. “The evidence is clear that Ms. Willis was an intended travel partner for at least some of these trips, as evidenced by the flights he purchased for her to accompany him,” the petition stated.
According to the claims, one of the tickets cost about $900, while the other cost nearly $500.
Roman’s filing suggested Wade and Willis were in a “romantic relationship,” which Joycelyn Wade echoed in her filing.
“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,” according to the complaint.
“Contrary to Ms. Willis’ belief, Defendant is not using the deposition to harass her but rather to obtain relevant information from her husband’s paramour about her connection with Plaintiff and the degree of Plaintiff’s financial involvement in it. These responses are crucial to the fair distribution of the marital estate, the dissipation of marital assets, and the Plaintiff’s ability to afford spousal support,” it stated.
A Cobb County judge has scheduled an emergency hearing on Monday at 11:30 a.m. ET to hear arguments about Willis’ request to quash the subpoena and whether to unseal the divorce records in the case.
According to invoices filed to Roman’s court filing last week, Wade has been paid $250 per hour for his work on the case, and his law company has been paid at least $550,000 since 2022 for its work on the sprawling 19-defendant case.
Roman is using the alleged relationship to argue that Willis, Nathan Wade, and the DA’s office should be barred from litigating the case and the criminal charges against him dropped. He said that Willis had circumvented the normal procedure in appointing Wade, tarnishing the entire case.
“Instead of handling this case within her office, as she could have done,” the petition said, Willis “chose to hire a private special prosecutor to preside over the case,” and in doing so utilized the prosecution “to pay her partner a large sum of money.”
Willis has yet to reply to the claims, but her office has stated that she will in a court filing. McAfee has directed her office to respond to Roman’s filing by February 2.
Attorneys for Roman and Joycelyn Wade did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Four defendants have pled guilty in the election case, while the remaining defendants, including Roman and Trump, have pleaded not guilty.