Nathan Wade told Congress during a closed-door deposition that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis began preparing to prosecute former President Donald Trump before she took office in January 2021, according to a transcript released Monday.
According to the transcript, Wade said Willis began outreach for a Trump-related search committee “sometime after the [2020] election, but prior to her taking office.” Willis took office on Jan. 1, 2021, after winning her district attorney race the previous August.
Wade remarked that Willis “absolutely” reached out to him before the day she took office to mobilize him and others to prosecute Trump for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 election, a sign that Trump was a top target and priority for her.
He also testified that when the committee began its work, the members of it “turned their guns” on him and urged him to accept a role as lead prosecutor in the Trump case.
“So January 1st I was a part of the search committee for that newly elected district attorney, and we were tasked with trying to identify someone who would serve as lead counsel on the election interference investigation,” Wade said, according to the transcript. “Eventually, I guess the committee turned their guns on me and started trying to convince me to accept the role.”
Wade resigned from the Trump case this year after the former president and several of his co-defendants uncovered an undisclosed romantic relationship between Wade and Willis.
The defendants alleged that the pair’s relationship presented a conflict of interest, and a judge partially agreed, leading Wade to resign and Trump to elevate his argument to the Georgia Court of Appeals in hopes of getting Willis removed from the case. Trump’s appeal remains pending.
Wade and Willis were forced to answer for their relationship earlier this year as part of the inquiry into their alleged conflict of interest. Both said their romantic relationship began in early 2022, though evidence introduced during the inquiry suggested they had a close personal relationship prior to that.
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Read a copy of Wade’s transcript here.
This story is developing.
