Nathan Wade testifies that Fani Willis was planning to prosecute Trump ahead of taking office

On Monday, the House Judiciary Committee released the transcript of the committee’s deposition of the former top prosecutor in the Trump Georgia election case Nathan Wade, which took place on October 15. During the deposition, Wade admitted to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis contacting him before she took office to recruit him for a search committee for a special prosecutor to target Trump.

Wade told the committee, "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. The goal, or the trick, was to make certain that the individual selected or identified was one who had no axe to grind, if you will, one who would be able to be objective, and follow wherever the investigative process would lead them."

He later added that after a multitude of candidates were considered, "eventually I guess the committee turned their guns on me and started trying to convince me to accept the role." He said he said no "more than once,” but that he "relented” at some point.

The Judiciary Committee asked whether there was outreach prior to January 1, 2021, which was when Willis took office, for Wade to be a part of the search committee. "Absolutely," he said.

He said that this outreach started "sometime after the election, but prior to [Willis] taking office."

Wade also acknowledged meeting with staff from the Biden White House on at least two occasions during the Willis’ probe into Trump. Wade was asked about an invoice line stating, "Travel to Athens; conf with White House counsel, May 23rd, 2022."

"So, if it says conf with White House counsel, that would mean there was a conf with White House counsel?" investigators asked, to which Wade said that the semicolon after Athens indicated a separate thought.

"So if you billed for a conf with White House counsel, would that have occurred," the committee asked, to which Wade replied that "If I billed for a conf with White House counsel, this document doesn't say that that conf with White House counsel happened in Athens. That's not what that says."

Pressing again, the investigator asked, "If it says conf with White House counsel, would you have billed for a conf with White House counsel," to which Wade replied, "Yes."

Wade was also asked about an invoice line that read "Interview with D.C./White House, November 18th, 2022. Eight hours at $250. Cost $2,000."

Wade said he didn’t remember the meeting occurring or who it would have been with but added "I know that it did because the entry says that it did."

Trump and allies were indicted by a grand jury in 2023 on charges related to the Georgia 2020 election. Wade resigned from the case in March 2024 after Judge Scott McAfee ruled that either he or Willis had to leave the case over the relationship the two had.

 

Nathan Wade Deposition by Hannah Nightingale