Atlanta

Special prosecutor Nathan Wade comes to ‘temporary agreement’ in divorce, canceling court hearing

ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News has learned that a temporary agreement has been made between the Fulton County special prosecutor in the Georgia election interference case and his wife in their divorce case.

Special prosecutor Nathan Wade has been accused of having an inappropriate relationship with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis by one of the codefendants in the election interference case.

Willis hired Wade to lead the team to prosecute former President Donald Trump and others, who are accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election here in Georgia.

A filing in Wade’s divorce case includes credit card statements that show Wade — after he had been hired as a special prosecutor — bought plane tickets in October 2022 for him and Willis to travel to Miami and bought tickets in April to San Francisco in their names.

The last-minute apparent settlement comes less than 24 hours before a hearing in the case that could have included sworn testimony by Wade.

The settlement also appears to prevent the release of any records about the allegations between him and Willis that could have arisen at the hearing.

According to a consent temporary order from the judge, the two parties “reached an agreement as to all issues presently before the Court.”

“The parties, by and through their counsel of record, have entered into a temporary agreement addressing all issues presently before the court,” the order said, according to ABC News. “The parties have further agreed that the terms and provisions of this temporary agreement shall not be filed with the court.”

The order further said the court has reviewed the “provisions of the temporary agreement” and has approved them.

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Because of the settlement, Wednesday’s hearing will no longer need to be held.

The attorney for Wade’s wife, Andrea Hastings, told ABC News that the agreement reached Tuesday does not pertain to the entire divorce but just the issues that were before the court Wednesday, including the issue of interim support and attorney’s fees.

Hastings said that the divorce moves forward.

“We still have a lot of work to do, preparing for either settlement or trial,” she said.

Willis has yet to respond publicly to the allegations of a romantic relationship between her and Wade. But she vigorously defended Wade and his qualifications during a Jan. 14 service honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at a Black church in Atlanta. She suggested then that questioning of Wade is rooted in racism.

This week, Trump’s lawyers said Willis should be removed from the case, claiming she “inappropriately injected race into the case and stoked racial animus” during her speech at the service.

Senators on Friday approved a special investigative committee that Republicans say will be used to probe whether Willis has used state money to benefit herself by employing Wade as a special prosecutor.

On Monday, the Georgia House passed a bill Monday to revive a commission with powers to discipline and remove prosecutors, a move Democrats warn is aimed at disrupting Willis’ prosecution of Trump.

Willis spokesperson Jeff DiSantis declined to comment on the filing. He has repeatedly said Willis and her team will respond to the motion in a court filing. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has set a Feb. 15 hearing on the motion and gave the district attorney’s office until Feb. 2 to respond to it.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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