Former Georgia special prosecutor Nathan Wade said his romantic relationship with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis — which has thrown Donald Trump's election interference case into limbo — did not cause any damage to the case.
In his first interview since he was forced to resign as special prosecutor, Wade told ABC News that his relationship with Willis had "nothing to do with the merits of that prosecution" and that it had not affected the case or the public's perception of it "at all."
“I regret that that private matter became the focal point of this very important prosecution," he said. "This is a very important case. I hate that my personal life has begun to overshadow the true issues in the case.”
The prosecutors' past relationship still threatens to upend the criminal case against Trump and 14 co-defendants (all of whom have pleaded not guilty; four others have taken plea deals). Attorneys for the defendants have sought to boot Willis from the case, alleging that the relationship constituted a conflict of interest, or at least gave the appearance of one.
In acrimonious testimony in February, Willis said her relationship with Wade began in 2022, but that physical intimacy between them ended in 2023, before Trump and his co-defendants were criminally indicted. (The timeline of their relationship was contradicted by a former friend of Willis' who also testified.) Judge Scott McAfee ultimately ruled that Willis could stay on the case as long as Wade resigned, which he quickly did.
Wade told ABC News that he was not speaking publicly on behalf of Willis' office. “As a matter of fact, I’m certain that they would rather me not be having this exchange with you," he said. "With that, I want to continually protect the integrity of this prosecution. I don’t want to say or do anything that would jeopardize this case.”
It might be too late for that. On Wednesday, a Georgia appeals court agreed to consider Trump's request to disqualify Willis from the case. A trial date still has not been set, but the appeals court ruling, when it comes, could unravel the whole case.
In his interview, Wade conceded that the relationship “did not happen in ideal timing,” but he and Willis had not planned to develop feelings for each other. He also appeared to brush off the potential impact of the relationship on the case.
“Workplace romances are as American as apple pie,” he said. “It happens to everyone.”