Special prosecutor Nathan Wade resigned Friday from working on the Georgia case against former President Donald Trump, as ordered by the judge.
Judge Scott McAfee declined to outright disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case Friday, instead offering prosecutors the choice of having Wade withdraw or having Willis and her entire office step aside. He ruled that the defense did not meet the burden of proving an “actual conflict of interest,” but said the record “highlights a significant appearance of impropriety.”
“I am offering my resignation in the interest of democracy, in dedication to the American public, and to move this case forward as quickly as possible,” Wade wrote in his resignation letter. “I am proud of the work our team has accomplished in investigating, indicting, and litigating this case.”
In a letter accepting Wade’s resignation, Willis wrote that she would always remind everyone how he was “brave enough to step forward and take on the investigation and prosecution of the allegations that the defendants in this case engaged in a conspiracy to overturn Georgia’s 2020 Presidential Election.”
“I compliment you for the professionalism and dignity you have shown over the last 865 days, as you have endured threats against you and your family, as well as unjustified attacks in the media and in court on your reputation as a lawyer,” Willis wrote.
McAfee said in his ruling Friday that the decision not to disqualify Willis does not indicate that he “condones this tremendous lapse in judgment or the unprofessional manner of the District Attorney’s testimony during the evidentiary hearing.”
“Rather, it is the undersigned’s opinion that Georgia law does not permit the finding of an actual conflict for simply making bad choices – even repeatedly – and it is the trial court’s duty to confine itself to the relevant issues and applicable law properly brought before it,” McAfee wrote.
He also noted there were “reasonable questions about whether the District Attorney and her hand-selected lead SADA testified untruthfully about the timing of their relationship.”
Trump co-defendant Michael Roman alleged in a Jan. 8 motion that Willis financially benefited from awarding her romantic partner Wade a lucrative contract to work as special prosecutor on the case when he took her on vacations using money earned from his position.
Willis and Wade both denied the relationship began before he was hired, though a long-time friend of Willis, Robin Yeartie, testified that it began in 2019. They claimed the expenses were split roughly equally, with Willis paying him back in cash.
McAfee wrote that an “odor of mendacity remains” about the testimony of Willis and Wade.
Katelynn Richardson on March 15, 2024
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