A Cobb County judge ruled on Monday that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis doesn’t have to testify in her boyfriend, Nathan Wade’s divorce case — yet.
Cobb County Superior Court Judge Henry Thomas ruled that the divorce case documents be unsealed.
Judge Thomas based his decision on the fact that a hearing was not held before the divorce case was sealed, which is a violation of procedure.
Judge Thomas said that since there are no minor children involved in the divorce case between Nathan and his estranged wife, Joycelyn Wade, that it didn’t make sense to hear from Willis before Wade has been questioned under oath about his finances and his relationship with Willis.
Willis was scheduled to be deposed on January 23, but Wade is not expected to be questioned until a hearing next month, according to Fox 5 News.
Eventually, Willis will have to answer questions during a deposition.
The divorce case was sealed sometime in late 2023.
Attorney Ashleigh Merchant dropped a bombshell on January 8 when she filed a motion on behalf of Michael Roman asking the court to drop charges against her client because Willis and Wade were involved in an “improper” and “clandestine” relationship.
Court documents accuse Willis of hiring her boyfriend, and paying him twice as much as two experienced RICO prosecutors in her office.
Bank records released Friday in Cobb County show that Wade purchased tickets to Miami on his personal credit card for himself, Willis and his mother, Clara Bowman, of Texas.
The three plane tickets cost a combined $1,367. That same day, he paid more than $2,600 to Royal Caribbean Cruises, according to AJC.com.
After landing in Miami, Willis and Wade embarked on a cruise from Miami to Aruba.
Bowman stayed in Miami and returned to Texas on Oct. 31, according to flight records viewed by AJC.com.
Joycelyn Wade is now a resident of Odessa, Texas, according to the NY Post. Mr. Wade remains in their 7-bedroom home in Marietta, Georgia.
On Friday, Fulton County Commissioner Bob Ellis, chairman of the audit committee, sent a letter to Willis demanding financial records.
“I must reasonably inquire about allegations contained in a recent court filing asserting that you misused county funds and accepted valuable gifts and personal benefits from a contractor/recipient of county funds,” he wrote.
The “contractor” in the filing is Wade, whose law firm was paid nearly $800,000 since 2022 for his work on the Trump RICO case.
Legal experts say Wade’s personal love life could derail the RICO case against Trump and his co-defendants.
Clark Cunningham, a law professor at Georgia State University, said Wade’s bank records seem to substantiate the allegations made in Merchant’s motion on January 8.
“Willis may want to consider taking a leave from the DA’s office, allowing one of her chief deputies to assume control over the election interference prosecution,” Cunningham said, according to AJC.com. “That chief deputy could determine whether to continue the contract with Nathan Wade.”
