Prosecutor in Trump Georgia case settles divorce and avoids testimonies

The special prosecutor leading the election interference case against former President Donald J. Trump will not have to testify this week about an alleged romantic relationship with his boss, Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis, after reaching a tentative divorce settlement on Tuesday reaches. .

The apparent resolution of the divorce between the special counsel, Nathan J. Wade, and his wife, Joycelyn Wade, remains unanswered for now, a question that has created potential jeopardy for the high-profile prosecution of Mr. Trump and U.S. President Willis. of his allies.

Ms. Willis hired Mr. Wade, a lawyer in private practice, in 2021 to help run the Trump case, saying she needed a trusted confidante for the job. But three weeks ago, one of Trump's co-defendants, Michael Roman, alleged that the two accusers were in a romantic relationship and had taken vacations paid for by Mr. Wade.

Mr. Roman argues that this amounts to a conflict of interest and is grounds for removing both the prosecutors and Ms. Willis's entire office from the case.

So far, neither Mr. Wade nor Ms. Willis have confirmed or denied the allegations of a relationship. But in recent days it seemed increasingly likely that Mr. Wade would be forced to address the claims at a divorce hearing on Wednesday, where he was expected to take the stand.

The hearing was aborted at the last minute after the judge announced a “temporary agreement” on Tuesday afternoon. “We can confirm that this is a temporary arrangement while the final details are worked out,” said a spokeswoman for Andrea Dyer Hastings, Ms Wade's divorce lawyer.

Mr. Wade married Ms. Wade in 1997 and filed for divorce more than two years ago.

Ms Willis has until Friday to respond to Mr Roman's submission. It is not clear whether she will address the relationship accusations in her response.

The filing by Mr. Roman, a former Trump campaign aide, offered no evidence of the romantic relationship between the accusers. But it said they were seen “in a personal relationship capacity” in Atlanta, and claimed people close to both of them had confirmed this.

Mr. Wade has collected more than $650,000 in legal fees since Ms. Willis hired him in November 2021. Mr. Roman's filing said that by taking vacations paid for by Mr. Wade, Ms. Willis had “benefited significantly from this prosecution at the expense of taxpayers.” That, he said, was the conflict of interest.

The charges do not change the underlying facts of the case, which alleges that Mr. Trump and his allies were involved in a plot to undermine the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Four of the nineteen original defendants have already pleaded guilty, including some of Trump's staunchest defenders. One of them, Jenna Ellis, said tearfully at a hearing late last year that she looked back on what she did “with deep remorse.”

Legal experts disagree on how strong Mr. Roman's filing is, or whether it will convince the presiding judge, Scott McAfee of the Fulton County Superior Court, that the prosecution team should be removed. Mr. Roman's filing also asks that the seven misdemeanor charges against him be dismissed.

But the allegations have caused even more serious complications for Ms. Willis. Fulton County has begun an investigation and has asked Ms. Willis to provide numerous documents, including invoices and payments to special prosecutors; however, the provincial commission does not have the authority to fire the elected prosecutor.

A new commission created by Republican lawmakers to oversee prosecutors is expected to review Ms. Willis' conduct, and could pose a greater threat. Although the legislature has not yet determined the extent of the commission's powers, it will most likely be able to punish or dismiss Georgia's prosecutors.

Also on Tuesday, Ashleigh Merchant, Mr. Roman's attorney, filed a lawsuit against the Fulton County District Attorney's Office, accusing the office of “intentionally withholding information prior to scheduled evidentiary hearings.”

Ms. Merchant testified that she submitted public records requests for a variety of documents but did not receive some of them, including invoices for payments from the office to Mr. Wade in 2023 and copies of reimbursements to Ms. Willis for travel expenses.