Nathan Wade says his relationship with Fani Willis was ‘bad timing’ but not responsible for delaying Trump case
Former Donald Trump prosecutor Nathan Wade reiterated he does not believe his affair with Fulton County DA is responsible for delaying the Georgia trial against the former president - but admitted the relationship was ‘bad timing.’
“I don’t believe my actions played a role in it at all,” Wade said during an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins aired Wednesday night.
He described it as a “dog-and-pony” show to use his relationship with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to try and slow the case. But, Wade said the indictments cover the allegations against Trump and the others accused of trying to overturn the election in the state.
“Certainly I would have never done anything that would have jeopardized that hard work…I do believe though the timing of the personal relationship I had was probably bad, it was bad timing but you don’t pick and choose when those things happen,” Wade said, adding that he regretted the timing of the affair given the case against Trump.
Wade was thrust into the spotlight when he was appointed as a top prosecutor in the Georgia election interference case that saw Trump and 17 co-defendant charged criminally. The group is accused of trying to subvert the 2020 election results in Georgia. Trump has pleaded not guilty. While some of the defendants have already pleaded guilty to their roles.
However, the case was thrown into a circus when it emerged during Wade’s divorce proceedings that he was having a relationship with Willis.
That led to questions about his appointment and accusations of impropriety.
Willis and Wade both denied wrongdoing, but a judge ruled that one must leave the case. Wade then resigned to allow Willis to continue to oversee the prosecution.
Trump has pushed to disqualify Willis from trying the case and the Georgia Supreme Court has ordered an October hearing on the matter. That will likely push a trial past election day. Willis has filed an request to dismiss the appeal.
That possible situation led to an awkward exchange between Collins and Wade during Wednesday’s interview.
The host asked Wade if he believed a sitting president could be put on trial.
“I don’t believe it looks good to the rest of the world,” Wade said, “but I don’t think there is anything that would prevent that from happening.”
Collins then asked what if Trump was convicted in Georgia while being president. Wade said he didn’t understand the question and said anyone convicted would then go through the sentencing process.
The host countered she didn’t believe a sitting president would be sent to jail, because it would create a confrontation with Secret Service and a president is the head of a branch of the federal government.
“We know that sentencing is entirely up to a trial court,” Wade said. “And it’s up to the court to determine if the appropriate sentence is jail time.”
