Records in a divorce case involving a special prosecutor investigating former President Donald Trump were unsealed on Jan. 22, showing the prosecutor was held in contempt for failing to comply with a court order.
Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor, is embroiled in divorce proceedings with Jocelyn Wade.
One of the unsealed records shows that Mr. Wade was found in contempt in August 2023 for failing to adequately provide discovery documents. An order that month said Mr. Wade could purge himself of contempt by delivering the documents.
In the months after the order, Mr. Wade failed to come into compliance with the court’s directives, according to Ms. Wade.
“Plaintiff has failed to provide, for example, personal financials and/or financials for his business(es) including but not limited to tax returns, bank accounts, and credit card accounts related to plaintiff’s business(es), and account statements for his individual bank and credit card accounts,” one filing on her behalf stated. That’s part of “a pervasive pattern of what can only be described as a willful and deliberate effort” to withhold relevant information, another said.
Other filings allege Mr. Wade has provided “nearly nothing” for “support and survival” to Ms. Wade despite him receiving nearly $700,000 from his employer since May 2022 and her being a stay-at-home mom for the past 26 years.
The only payments from Mr. Wade to his wife have been bi-weekly payments of $700, one filing stated. But those payments have been undercut by Mr. Wade allegedly using the account in question for his own expenses.
The unsealing occurred on the orders of a judge, who ruled in favor of media outlets that had asked for the unsealing.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis appointed Mr. Wade as a special prosecutor. She has been accused of being in an improper relationship with Mr. Wade, with court documents showing Mr. Wade paid for her to fly with him to two different cities.
Mr. and Ms. Wade were married in 1997. They separated in 2021. Mr. Wade filed for divorce on Nov. 2, 2021. He said that the marriage was “irretrievably broken.”
An attorney representing Mr. Wade did not return an inquiry. A lawyer for Ms. Wade declined to comment.
The documents had been sealed in 2022 due to “potential harm to the privacy of the parties” outweighing “the right of the public to access the records,” according to a court order.
Subpoena
That order was incorrectly entered without a hearing, which would be in violation of state rules, lawyer Ashleigh Merchant argued on Monday.
She also said other requirements, such as identifying certain parts of the records to be sealed, were also not met.
Ms. Merchant is representing Michael Roman, one of President Trump’s co-defendants in a conspiracy case.
Mr. Roman recently alleged that Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade are involved in an improper relationship as he moved for both to be disqualified from prosecuting him.
Lawyers for Ms. Wade said during the hearing they did not object to the unsealing.
M. Scott Kimbrough, representing Mr. Wade, asked for the records to remain hidden from the public.
“The current status of the situation, what has happened since Jan. 8 of this year, clearly shows the harm that has been done to these parties and clearly gives credence to what the party’s intentions were back in February 2022 when they entered into this agreement to seal and we think that that is proper for the case remain under sealed,” he said.
Media outlets had also requested unsealing, pointing out the allegations and saying public interest in the divorce documents outweighed any privacy interests.
The case against President Trump “is a criminal proceeding of historic importance” and the claim of a relationship between the special prosecutor and district attorney “must be answered in a transparent manner to preserve public confidence in our judicial system,” the outlets stated in a brief.
Cobb County Superior Court Judge Henry Thomas said he found the prior order “was not properly entered” because no hearing was held. He granted the motion to vacate the order that sealed the records.
Judge Thomas also stayed a deposition of Ms. Willis that had been scheduled to take place this month. Because no parties have been deposed in the case, it’s not possible at this time to figure out whether Ms. Willis has relevant information to share, he said.
Attorneys for Ms. Willis had, in a recent filing, said the district attorney cannot provide unique personal knowledge of any matter that is relevant to Defendant Wade’s divorce.
Mr. Wade was appointed by Ms. Willis in 2021, after he spent time as an attorney and judge.
Ms. Willis has not denied being in a relationship with Mr. Wade. At a church in Atlanta, she alleged that she is being targeted because she is black.
The initial allegations about Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade were made in a motion by Mr. Roman’s attorney.
“Willis has benefited substantially and directly, and continues to benefit, from this litigation because Wade is being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to prosecute this case on her behalf,” that motion stated, adding that Mr. Wade “will continue to be incentivized to prosecute this case based on his personal and financial motives, so he has acquired a unique and personal interest or stake in Mr. Roman’s continued prosecution.”
Bank records detailed by Ms. Wade in a Jan. 19 filing that was previously disclosed to the public showed that flights for Mr. Wade and Ms. Willis were purchased together, including flights from Atlanta to Miami and San Francisco.
“The evidence is clear that Ms. Willis was an intended travel partner for at least some of these trips as indicated by flights he purchased for her to accompany him,” Andrea Hastings, an attorney representing Ms. Wade, said in the filing.
A separate hearing is slated to take place on Feb. 15 on Mr. Roman’s motion for the disqualification of Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade. Ms. Willis has been ordered to respond to the claims by Feb. 2.
From The Epoch Times