Tipsheet

Who's Ready to See Nathan Wade's Ex-Partner and Divorce Attorney's Text Messages?

Mia Cathell
Mia Cathell  |  February 29, 2024 1:00 PM

The Georgia state Senate has reportedly subpoenaed confessional texts sent by special prosecutor Nathan Wade's former divorce attorney Terrence Bradley, who allegedly has intimate insight into Wade's admitted affair with Fulton County DA Fani Willis.

The development was first reported Wednesday by Townhall columnist Phil Holloway, who has his hands on some of them, in an appearance on The Megyn Kelly Show. There, Holloway provided screenshots of texts between Bradley and defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who's seeking to disqualify Willis from the Georgia RICO case against former President Donald Trump.

Among the juicy chatter, as alleged in the courtroom Tuesday, Willis allegedly had sex with Wade in her office, "The Law Offices of Fani T. Willis, LLC," a workspace Willis was renting when she previously ran a private practice between 2018 and 2019.

"Why she would hire him is insane. Like just date," Merchant told Bradley in an early January 2024 text exchange. "Don't hire him," she said of Willis employing Wade. Merchant then asked on January 5: "Do you think it started before she hired him?"

"Absolutely," Bradley answered, adding: "It started when she left the DA's office and was judge in South Fulton." He recounted that they met at a 2019 municipal court CLE ("continuing legal education") training conference where Wade was Willis's teacher.

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"That's what I figured," Merchant responded. "When he was married."

"The Georgia state Senate has an investigation going on into the Fulton [County] district attorney's office," Holloway told Kelly.

"The committee that's looking into this — today, they've issued a subpoena; they've issued a subpoena to attorney Ashleigh Merchant for all of her text communications related to this case. This is getting the attention of the authorities not only in the state Senate, but there are also ethics things going on here in Georgia. Fani Willis has a lot that she is going to have to be on the defense for in the foreseeable future, but suffice it to say the Senate is now seeking all these text communications to see if they can figure out what's going on..." Holloway stated, declaring: "The truth will come out one way or another, and here it comes."

Townhall independently confirmed that the Georgia state Senate has issued a subpoena for all relevant documents in Merchant's possession.

Late last month, Georgia's state Senate formed a special committee tasked with investigating Willis. The investigative body, which has six Republicans and three Democrats, possesses full subpoena power and the ability to require testimony under oath.

According to legislation launching the nine-person panel, "it has come to the attention of the Georgia Senate" that Willis is accused of prosecutorial misconduct involving the "expenditure of significant public funds" to employ Wade, allegedly her longtime lover, as lead prosecutor in the Trump case. Since his hiring, Wade has accrued more than $650,000 in income, which he is accused of using to pay for luxury vacations with Willis. The couple claim they didn't date until after his appointment in November 2021 while witness testimony from former Willis staffer Robin Bryant-Yeartie says the affair started as early as 2019, matching Bradley's timeline.

The arrangement would constitute "a clear conflict of interest and a fraud upon the taxpayers of Fulton County and the State of Georgia," the bill says, and establish grounds for the Democrat DA's recusal from the prosecution, "potentially delaying it indefinitely." Willis would also be subject to discipline by the State Bar of Georgia, the Senate resolution (S.R. 465) notes.

Among the statutory powers that the select group of state senators possesses, the assembly can call on any individual to testify under oath, take the depositions of witnesses, compel the production of evidentiary records, and issue subpoenas. Accordingly, they're authorized to undertake actions deemed necessary to "enforce such subpoenas" when parties refuse to comply.

However, if the committee finds Willis guilty of wrongdoing, its members can only recommend changes to state law or the budget.

On the witness stand Tuesday afternoon, Bradley was grilled on the tell-all text messages he exchanged with Merchant. However, he sidestepped the defense's questions, claiming he couldn't "recall" details and dismissing his texts as "speculation."

"I do not have knowledge of when it started," Bradley testified despite saying he did over text.

"Why would you 'speculate' when she was asking you a direct question about when the relationship started?" Trump's defense lawyer Steve Sadow shot back. "I have no answer for that," a despondent Bradley responded. "Except for the fact that you do, in fact, know when it started and you don't want to testify to that in court. That's the best explanation, isn't it?" Sadow questioned.

In subsequent reporting on the texts discussed first on The Megyn Kelly Show, CNN and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution dove into the hundreds of messages showing that Bradley was a willing informant behind the keyboard. According to the approximately 413 texts traded over multiple months, Bradley offered Merchant unsolicited legal advice on going after the DA's office, called her his trustworthy "friend," and bashed Willis and Wade together.

"It is my hope they do the right thing before then," Merchant texted Bradley on January 24. "You are my friend and I trust you...they will not...they're arrogant as 'F'...she thinks she won the other day when she didn't have to be deposed," he responded.

"I am shocked she paid him so much," Merchant said in a January 6 text. "How did they think they wouldn't get caught!!!"

"So careless," Merchant texted. "Why not just NOT pay [N]athan? Lord."

"Arrogance," Bradley explained.

Bradley provided Merchant with the names of several sources he believed to have first-hand knowledge of when Willis and Wade's sexploits started. "Subpoena them all," Bradley advised in a January 7 text to Merchant, referring to a list of individuals that included underling prosecutors in the DA's office, members of Willis's security detail, and associates close to her.

Back on September 18, Merchant asked Bradley: "Any idea who I might get an affidavit from on the affair?"

"No one would freely burn that bridge," Bradley replied.

Then, on December 13, Merchant texted Bradley that she gathered more information, but she "still can't get anyone to go on record."

Bradley had indicated he didn't want to be directly connected to the affair allegations, expressing he'd rather not be named as the initial source of information. "I protected you completely," Merchant told Bradley, referencing a draft of her January 8 motion to disqualify Willis. "Not that you need protection," Merchant added. "I really appreciate you keeping me out of," Bradley replied.

"Anything else? Anything that isn't accurate?" Merchant asked Bradley as she drafted it. "Looks good," he affirmed on January 6.

"I am nervous," Merchant wrote on the day of the motion's filing. "This is huge." To which, Bradley encouraged Merchant to proceed. "You are huge. You will be fine. You are one of the best lawyers I know," Bradley nudged. "Go be great."

Although he desired to remain behind the scenes and Merchant had pledged to protect him, Bradley was ultimately called on to testify as the defense's "star witness" after she couldn't secure testimony beyond one witness alleging that the affair predates Wade's appointment. "I will leave you out," Merchant assured Bradley, "but think if I don't subpoena you it would look fishy."

"I fear it would look suspicious if I did not also subpoena you but I plan on putting Nathan Wade and [F]ani on the stand," she wrote. Then, Merchant asked, "What do you want me to do?" Bradley acquiesced, stating "I'm ok with it," before affirming their friendship.

Bradley went on to fight Merchant's subpoena every step of the way in spite of their apparent agreement, claiming attorney-client privilege. But, after a private meeting with Bradley, the judge presiding over Willis's disqualification proceedings deemed his knowledge non-privileged, and Bradley reluctantly took the stand Tuesday. Final arguments are expected to be heard on Friday.