Fulton County lead prosecutor Nathan Wade testified Thursday that District Attorney Fani Willis paid him back in cash for the trips that they took together while they were dating.
Willis hired Wade to help prosecute Fulton County’s 2020 election interference case being brought against former President Donald Trump and 18 other defendants.
Willis has been accused of personally benefiting financially from the high salary she gave him in the form of lavish personal trips they took together, such as to Belize; Napa Valley, California; and Aruba.
She said that they split expenses evenly on the trips.
The New York Post reported last month that Wade received $250 per hour, and the total payments to his law office in 2022 and 2023 totaled $653,880, according to Atlanta NBC affiliate WXIA-TV.
Willis and Wade wrote in court filings that their romantic relationship did not begin until 2022, after Willis had hired Wade to serve as special prosecutor in November 2021.
However, Robin Yeartie, a former friend and employee of Fulton County, testified Thursday that the relationship began in 2019.
Nathan Wade, the lead prosecutor in Donald Trump’s Georgia election interference case, says his romantic relationship with Fulton County DA Fani Willis began “around March” 2022. pic.twitter.com/988gkrdS30
— The Recount (@therecount) February 15, 2024
When Wade took the stand, he denied it.
Is Fani Willis corrupt?
Yes: 100% (334 Votes)
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Asked by defense lawyer Ashleigh Merchant, when his relationship with Willis began, Wade responded, “Early 2022 … around March.”
He further testified that he paid for all the vacations they took together on his business card, but Willis then paid him back for her portion of the trip.
When Merchant asked where he deposited the funds, Wade responded that she paid him in cash.
BREAKING: Nathan Wade testifies that he paid for all the vacations he took with Fani Willis with his business credit card.
And that she then reimbursed him in CASH.
This what at a time he was getting paid by Willis’ office for the prosecution of Trump. pic.twitter.com/9DUq3hedOX
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 15, 2024
He further stated he did not deposit the money and thus had no bank records of the transactions, according to The Hill.
Merchant later asked Willis how she accessed cash to pay Wade, suggesting there would be bank records from ATM or other cash withdrawals.
Willis responded that she took it from her home.
Fani Willis is claiming she paid Nathan Wade back for all of her vacations in cash that she kept at her house and has no trail.
How convenient. pic.twitter.com/gg4bkC7jJx
— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) February 15, 2024
“I always have cash at the house … all my life,” Willis said.
She later testified that she gave Wade cash only perhaps four times.
Ashleigh Merchant: “So you have no proof of any reimbursement of any of these things because it was all cash, right?”
Fani Willis: “The testimony of one witness is enough to prove a fact.” pic.twitter.com/dZ1h0rBSQ9
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) February 15, 2024
“Probably the most money I ever handed him was $2,500, the least amount of money I handed him was probably between $500 and $1,000 dollars,” Willis said.
Thursday’s hearing is to determine whether Willis and Wade should be disqualified from continuing on in the election interference case, given their alleged misconduct.
