The lover of Fulton County DA Fani Willis and ex-Trump prosecutor Nathan Wade spilled the beans before Congress in a damning deposition last week.
The GOP-led House Judiciary Committee, which is investigating the anti-Trump DA's financial affairs and prosecution of former President Donald Trump, released the 132-page testimony Monday in a move sure to spur Willis, who had demanded that Wade not answer certain questions under oath due to the "confidential" nature of the information.
Today we released the transcript of Nathan Wade’s deposition before the House Judiciary Committee.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) October 21, 2024
Read it here: https://t.co/z19ZoOdMHO
She previously said in a scathing letter sent to the committee's chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), that the proceedings could compel Wade to divulge "highly sensitive" knowledge that "still belongs" to her office.
Here are the key takeaways from Wade's closed-door testimony:
Trump Prosecution
Before the Democrat DA even took office, Willis was preparing to prosecute Trump, according to what Wade told Congress.
Wade testified that sometime between the November 2020 election and the DA's inauguration day, Willis had "absolutely" contacted him about serving on a search committee that would select a special prosecutor to investigate and prosecute Trump.
Q: I want to now pivot to talking about your appointment as special prosecutor for the Fulton County District Attorney['s] Office. So who contacted you first about the special prosecutor position?
WADE: So this is an interesting story or series of events, how this came about [...] I was a part of a search committee, if you will, for the then-newly elected district attorney.
Q: And can you provide dates for when you were part of the search committee?
WADE: Oh, God, I cannot. I'm sorry.
Q: If it's helpful, DA Willis came into office on January 1st of 2021. Is that a helpful time frame?
WADE: It is. 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 [...] Eventually, I guess the committee turned their guns on me and started trying to convince me to accept the role...
Q: And so the search committee, you said that began when DA Willis took office on January 1, 2021. Is that correct
WADE: Yes.
Q: And was there outreach to you to be part of the search committee prior to January 1, 2021?
WADE: Absolutely.
Q: And when did that start?
WADE: Sometime after the election, but prior to her taking office.
On January 1, 2021, the day Willis assumed office as Fulton County district attorney, Wade was on this search committee, he said. This appointment entailed "daily" communications with Willis regarding the search committee's duties.
After the committee considered other candidates for the special prosecutor position, the panel and Willis "turned their guns on" Wade and identified him as the man for the job, he said.
Prior to accepting his prosecutorial appointment, Wade said he had "a lot" of conversations with Willis concerning the role's responsibilities.
In line with what Willis instructed about keeping shut, Wade's legal counsel repeatedly interjected, saying the Trump prosecution was "ongoing" when the House Judiciary Committee asked questions pertaining to the investigation or decision-making discussions involving Willis. Former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, who's also representing Willis, appeared as Wade's attorney.
Attorney and former GA Governor Roy Barnes seems to have appeared “for the witness” Nathan Wade when he testified last week in a congressional deposition
— Phil Holloway ✈️ (@PhilHollowayEsq) October 21, 2024
Barnes also represents #FaniWillis
If so, the question is whether Wade and Willis legal interests are exactly aligned pic.twitter.com/WODrZ2raaB
Wade also admitted that he had no relevant experience for the special prosecutor position. The lack of prosecutorial experience was so egregious that he had to attend "required" training to gain such expertise, including classes in RICO law, "a very complicated legal concept," he said. (Trump was ultimately indicted on Georgia RICO charges.)
Wade was mentored by fellow special counsel John Floyd, a contracted attorney already working with the DA's office "for years." Wade described these teachings as "sitting at the foot of the person who has written the book on" RICO. Floyd, whom Wade called the "godfather of RICO," also served as a special prosecutor on the Trump case.
Wade testified that no one oversaw his work once he was hired to head the Trump prosecution team. He affirmed that he had "ultimate authority" in the case.
Q: Prior to your appointment as special prosecutor, had you ever worked in a district attorney's office?
WADE: No.
[...]
Q: Had you ever worked on a RICO case or a racketeering case?
[...]
WADE: Are you asking if I've ever participated in the prosecution of a RICO case?
Q: Correct.
WADE: The answer is no.
Q: No. So this was the first case where you were prosecuting a RICO case?
WADE: Yes.
Q: And how did you get up to speed on the contours? Obviously, RICO is a complex law. Not talking about while you were on the job, but prior to taking the position on, did you do any study of the RICO law?
[...]
WADE: I absolutely did. I went to [...] what I would call RICO school to learn about what it is, what it means, and how it works. It's a very complicated legal concept, but the dubbed godfather of RICO, the gentleman who wrote the book [...] spent hours and hours teaching me RICO, if you will.
Q: And beyond that, did you do any other study to prepare yourself for taking on the position of the special prosecutor?
WADE: I don't know that there's anything greater than sitting at the foot of the person who haswritten the book on a legal concept. There's nothing better than that.
Q: And who are you referring to when you say he wrote the RICO book?
WADE: John Floyd.
Wade suggested that this leadership role "required" more hours and a greater understanding of the case than that of Floyd and the other special prosecutors assigned to the Trump case.
White House Collusion
Wade confirmed that he had conducted multiple meetings with Biden-Harris White House officials but refused to disclose any pertinent details, claiming he couldn't recollect basic facts about the events for which he billed the Fulton County District Attorney's Office thousands of taxpayer dollars.
Wade acknowledged billing the county for an eight-hour conference "with White House Counsel" at a $250-an-hour rate equaling $2,000 total on May 23, 2022.
Although, according to the invoice's entry, Wade supposedly spent an entire business day conferencing with the Biden-Harris White House, Wade claimed he could not recall which individuals were involved in the meeting, where exactly it occurred (whether he traveled to Athens or D.C.), or if the meeting took place in person or over the phone.
Wade also confirmed that he billed the DA's office another eight hours on November 18, 2022, for an "Interview with DC/White House." Again, he maintained that he did not remember meeting specifics, including who was in attendance or its subject matter.
Additionally, Wade confirmed that he billed the county 24 hours (this time totaling $6,000) between September 7, 2022, and September 9, 2022, for "Witness Interviews; conf call DC; team meeting." Wade again denied remembering who was on the conference call or which witnesses were interviewed.
During the deposition, Wade said the phrases, "I can't recall," "I don't recall," or "I don't know," nearly 60 times.
Q: Do you remember who your contact was at the White House counsel's office?
WADE: I do not.
Q: Would it be you that would have reached out to the White House counsel's office?
WADE: Possibly.
Q: So I was asking if he remembered whether you would have had a paralegal, someone that was on your team, or an assistant reach out to schedule this conf with White House counsel?
WADE: I don't recall.
Q: Okay. Do you remember who attended this conf with White House counsel?
WADE: I don't recall.
Q: Is it safe to assume, since you billed for the conf with White House counsel, that you attended this conf with White House counsel?
WADE: Yes.
Q: Okay. Do you remember if it was in person or by telephone?
WADE: I don't recall.
January 6 Committee
Wade also confirmed that he met with "individuals associated with the January 6th Committee" several times in 2022 but refused to reveal relevant details about these meetings.
Wade denied communicating directly with members or staff of the J6 committee, saying he instead communicated with individuals connected to the committee. When grilled on particulars, Wade said he spoke with "lawyers" but didn't say whom these attorneys represented nor did he name the legal counsel.
Q: Did you have meetings with anyone associated with the January 6 committee?
WADE: I believe that I did.
Q: And when you say [...] individuals associated with the January 6 committee, how are they associated with the January 6 Committee to your knowledge?
WADE: That means that they were not staff or members.
Q: So were they working on the January 6 investigation?
WADE: Yes.
Q: In what capacity?
[...]
WADE: Lawyers.
Q: Lawyers. So who were they lawyers for?
WADE: I'm not sure.
[...]
Q: [I]n what context were you speaking to lawyers that were involved in the January 6 committee?
WADE: In the context of an investigation.
Q: So the lawyers were involved in the January 6 committee's investigation?
WADE: Yes.
Q: Did they represent—so lawyers for the committee—
WADE *interjecting*: I'm not saying that [...] I don't know who they were lawyers for. I don't know.
[...]
Q: I just want to make sure that the record is clear. You don't know who the lawyers were that you met with that were associated with the January 6 committee, who they represented. Is that correct?
WADE: That's correct.
Wade confirmed that he billed the DA's office 24 hours (another $6,000 receipt) between April 18, 2022, and April 21, 2022, for a "Team meeting; Conf w/Jan 6; Research legal issues to prep interv." Wade denied expanding on what "Conf with Jan 6" meant, as well as whether he met with anyone associated with the J6 committee on those dates, and if these conferences occurred physically or via phone.
Wade confirmed that he charged the county eight hours on November 16, 2022, for a "Jan 6 meeting and Atty conf." However, he could not recall whom he met, the contents of the conference, and whether it was an in-person meeting or a phone call. Wade testified that the information would be found in the case files he had left with the DA's office upon his resignation.
Subpoena
Wade insisted that he was unaware of the U.S. Marshals attempting to serve him the congressional committee's subpoena at his home and office on September 23, 24, and 25, saying he had turned his phone off to prepare for an upcoming mediation and arbitration.
Wade offered a variety of explanations as to why he did not immediately accept service of the summons.
He first claimed that he had hurt his ankle playing basketball and was on prescription pain medication at the time, so he "took a few days to take care" of his ankle as well as prep for litigation. Once he "was able to deal with the pain" without medication, he then turned on his cell phone and was about to go down to his exercise room. At that point, he saw the message from the U.S. Marshals at 4 a.m. and called to arrange service.
Q: And so based upon your failure to appear on September 18th [at] the transcribed interview, the committee then moved to compulsory process via a subpoena. When did you first learn the committee was issuing you a subpoena for your testimony?WADE: I had played in a community basketball league and [...] hairline fractured my ankle. I was, obviously, prescription medicating because of the pain and the swelling in my right ankle.
Wade, a private practice attorney, testified that he typically turns off his phone in the lead-up to trial, saying that "when I get into trial mode, when I'm preparing for trial, I shut the world off. My job is to handle my client's business, and I don't want any outside interference. So I had no contact with anyone during the course of that preparation."
Q: So what date did you turn your phone off?
WADE: I turned it off—the exact date, I can't recall. I'd give it to you if I could. I can't recall the exact date.
Q: So [...] if we requested your phone records for September 20th to September 26th, will we find that your phone was off, you had no communications via your cell phone?
WADE: I don't know what date it was when I shut it off. But during the course of that period, you will find no communications because the phone was off.
Q: And so what happened first, the phone being turned off or you hurting your ankle?
WADE: The ankle injury occurred first.
Q: Okay. And so between that time, you said that you turned your phone on then at 4:00 a.m. on September 26th, and that's when you received the messages from the Marshals. Is that correct, or do I have the timeline mixed up?
WADE: I don't recall—I do recall the Marshal saying to me, 'This subpoena that I am to serve you is for today's date.' So whatever that date was, that's the date I turned my phone on and returned that phone call.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
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