Embattled DA Fani Willis claims new cellphone data putting Nathan Wade near her home before pair say affair began are ‘not relevant’
Embattled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis hit back at new allegations that her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor in former President Donald Trump’s Georgia election fraud case started before they both testified it did — with her office saying dozens of newly revealed pings from his cellphone near her home are irrelevant and “don’t prove anything.”
Willis’ office filed a rebuttal to the Trump team’s earlier motion outlining what appeared to be damning cellphone data detailing Nathan Wade’s alleged overnight trips made to Willis’ rented condo as well as texts and phone calls, saying it should not be entered into evidence in the hearings to see whether Willis should be disqualified from the case.
“The records do nothing more than demonstrate that Special Prosecutor Wade’s telephone was located somewhere within a densely populated multiple-mile radius where various residences, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and other businesses are located,” the prosecutors wrote.
“The records do not prove, in any way, the content of the communications between Special Prosecutor Wade and District Attorney Willis; they do not prove that Special Prosecutor Wade was ever at any particular location or address; they do not prove that Special Prosecutor Wade and District Attorney Willis were ever in the same place during any of the times listed.”
Those phone records, recently unveiled in new court documents obtained by The Post, indicate a pattern of late-night visits by Wade to Willis’ apartment, raising questions about the timeline of their relationship.
According to the cellphone data presented in court, Wade frequented the vicinity of Willis’ condo in Hapeville at least 35 times before their admitted affair.
One such visit even occurred prior to Willis appointing Wade to prosecute Trump in the Georgia election fraud case.
While Willis acknowledged the visits during a special hearing, she sidestepped specifics regarding the frequency and timing.
However, legal representatives pushing for Willis’ disqualification from the Trump case tapped a criminal defense investigator to delve more deeply into the phone records.
What to know about District Attorney Fani Willis' trial
- Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis is being accused of misusing state and federal funds, and also engaging in an “improper” relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
- Willis admitted to having a “personal relationship” with Wade, but said it didn’t become romantic until after 2022 due to the case against former President Donald Trump.
- Willis hired Wade to work on the Trump case and paid him $654,000 in 2022, according to Trump co-defendant Michael Roman.
- Trump and his co-defendants are looking to disqualify Willis from the case and to have all charges, centered around the state’s expansive anti-racketeering RICO law, dismissed.
- The defense has presented dozens of pings from Wade’s cellphone that placed it at Willis’ rented condo prior to 2022. A former friend of Willis, who owned the condo, has testified that she saw the two of them “hugging” and “kissing” in 2019.
- On March 15, a judge ruled Willis can stay on and prosecute the Georgia election interference case against Trump and his co-defendants for allegedly trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election — if Wade steps aside.
The investigation, based on AT&T records, uncovered data detailing Wade’s presence in Willis’ immediate vicinity.
Investigator Charles Mittelstadt, in his report to Fulton County Superior Court, emphasized the sheer volume of evidence.
He highlighted two specific dates that caught his attention, revealing Wade’s presence near Willis’ apartment in September 2021 until the wee hours of the morning, followed by a late-night rendezvous in November of the same year.
In their late Friday filing, Willis’ lawyers also insisted that there is evidence showing Willis and Wade were not in the same place on the dates listed, including “at work at the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office AND VISITING THE THREE CRIME SCENES WHERE A MASS MURDER MOTIVATED BY RACE AND GENDER BIAS HAD TAKEN PLACE.”
The DA’s Office also questioned whether Trump’s lawyers obtained the cellphone data legally.
