Fulton County officials on Monday claimed records that reportedly show special prosecutor Nathan Wade was paid using funds from confiscated property are a “clerical error” on behalf of the county government.
Multiple Fulton County spokesmen, including a member of Willis’ office, offered explanations to Newsweek when the publication asked about records it obtained that showed Wade was paid using the county’s confiscated property funds.
The outlet explained, “To maintain transparency, payments to lawyers should not be made from a confiscated property account but from a general or legal fund.”
Wade (pictured above) is the former lover of District Attorney Fani Willis who has earned more than $650,000 since she appointed him to oversee the Georgia case against former President Donald Trump, and the their previously undisclosed relationship sparked hearings to determine whether Willis should be disqualified from the case.
Defendants claim Wade’s appointment inappropriately enriched Willis due to the luxurious vacations the couple shared, which were purchased using the special prosecutor’s company credit card.
Both Willis and Wade separately testified and swore in court documents their relationship began in early 2022, after Willis appointed him, but multiple defendants and witnesses argue the pair actually began dating as early as 2019.
A Fulton County spokesman first told the publication that any claims Wade was paid using funds gained by liquidating assets seized from criminals was “demonstrably false,” but Newsweek countered with entries from Willis’ expense account that reportedly show Wade was paid more than $90,000 from the seized property account over just three months.
The outlet reported that Fulton County then suggested that because Willis’ expense account “draws off of a database maintained by Fulton County government, not the District Attorney’s office,” they are unable “to assess why a data entry error was made in the database maintained by them.”
Additionally, Newsweek reported that Deputy District Attorney Jeff DiSantis provided three memos he claimed proved the payments “were pulled from the general account rather than the confiscated property fund.”
Currently balancing his work in Fulton County with work on President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and formerly an employee of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), DiSantis was recently named by Breitbart News as the Biden administration’s voice within the district attorney’s office.
A meeting between the White House and Willis was also divulged by defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who represents Trump’s co-defendant Michael Roman and originally unearthed the relationship, during her testimony before a Georgia Senate committee investigating Willis’ actions.
“I did an open records for the White House access, and we have records that Ms. Willis and the Mayor of Atlanta were at a meeting” with Vice President Kamala Harris on February 28, 2023, Merchant told the lawmakers.
Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee is expected to make a ruling this week to determine whether Willis will remain on the case.
After McAfee concluded arguments over Willis’ potential disqualification, two more witnesses who claimed to have direct and indirect knowledge of Willis and Wade’s relationship offered to testify.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Nathan Wade” by Wade & Campbell.
