Fani Willis Accepts Resignation of Deputy Nathan Wade in Trump Georgia Case – On Friday, the Fulton County district attorney officially acknowledged the resignation of her chief deputy, who she was romantically involved with, ensuring that she could proceed with prosecuting the criminal case against Donald Trump for his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
Fani Willis’s decision followed closely after the judge presiding over the case determined that the relationship had caused sufficient distraction, prompting either Willis or her deputy, Nathan Wade, to resign. Wade’s resignation, which was anticipated, was a straightforward choice.
This allows Willis to continue as the lead prosecutor against Trump and numerous allies indicted for alleged violations of Georgia’s state racketeering statute. “You led a team that secured a true bill of indictment against nineteen individuals who are accused of violating Georgia law to undermine the 2020 election for the former President of the United States,” Willis wrote in a letter obtained by a news outlet.
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“Please accept my sincere gratitude on behalf of the citizens of Fulton county, Georgia, for your patriotism, courage, and dedication to justice. I wish you the best in your future endeavors.” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee’s ruling fell short of disqualifying Willis, despite efforts by Trump and his co-defendants to do so based on claims of a conflict of interest stemming from the relationship.
The ruling spared Willis from potential disaster. Had she been removed from the case along with her office, it would likely have caused significant delays in prosecution while awaiting reassignment to another Georgia prosecutor, who might have chosen to dismiss the charges altogether. While the judge concluded that the evidence was insufficient to disqualify her from prosecuting the case, he didn’t mince words in criticizing how Willis handled the relationship and her testimony during hearings.
The judge emphasized that the Wade-Willis relationship created a significant appearance of impropriety, necessitating one of them to resign, even without an actual conflict of interest. He made it evident that mixing personal and professional relationships was unacceptable. Following Willis’s announcement of accepting Wade’s resignation, Trump took to his Truth Social platform, characterizing the development as “BIG STUFF.”
In January, Trump’s co-defendant, Michael Roman, sought to disqualify Willis due to her relationship with Wade, which had not been publicly disclosed at the time. Willis and Wade acknowledged their relationship but asserted that it commenced after Wade had been recruited to work on the Trump case in 2022. Willis’s office is prosecuting only a portion of the numerous criminal charges against Trump.
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This includes allegations of subverting his unsuccessful 2020 re-election campaign, mishandling classified documents, and making hush-money payments. In civil lawsuits, Trump has been found responsible for sexual abuse by writer E. Jean Carroll and has been legally determined to have engaged in business fraud.
