Former special prosecutor Nathan Wade appeared to backtrack after saying in a CNN interview on Wednesday that his affair with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis ended because he realized it “could be interfering with my job.”
Wade appeared on “The Source with Kaitlan Collins” and spoke about how he stepped down from working on former President Donald Trump’s election interference investigation after his relationship with Willis was reported, as well as allegations that the pair went on vacation together and that he misused funds from his positions.
As Wade reflected on the hearing he underwent about the details of his relationship with Willis, CNN host and former Daily Caller reporter Caitlin Collins asked him about his thoughts on the impact the hearing had on his “credibility.”(RELATED: CNN’s Ellie Honig says Fani Willis’ Trump lawsuit ‘may never go to trial’ after ‘surprising’ ruling)
“Aren’t you worried that it will undermine your credibility with people who are looking at this?” Collins asked.
“I’m not worried about that. I think people who are looking at it are looking at it through the lens that’s most favorable to their position,” Wade said.
As Collins continued to criticize the “scrutiny” that other prosecutors who worked on Trump’s case received, she noted that some who watched the relationship between Willis and Wade unfold had questions about the situation. Wade said he believed the pair handled everything “professionally,” and pointed to the moment they decided to “go their separate ways.”
“And when you indict a former president of the United States, you know, it’s going to be subject to intense scrutiny. I mean, everyone who investigated him has seen it, from Robert Mueller to the District Attorney in New York to Special Counsel Jack Smith. I think some people look at the situation that you and Fani Willis have been put in and say, ‘What were they thinking?'” Collins asked.
“Absolutely. The moment we realized what we were doing might be interfering with our work, we decided to step back and do things differently. That’s my point. I think we handled it professionally. We handled it within the bounds of the law and the court has said so,” Wade said.
“So you’re saying there was a moment when both of you stopped and realized that what you were doing was not beneficial to the cases you were trying to prosecute,” Collins replied.
“No, no, no, no. We know the profundity of any response is in the question, and I don’t agree with the question, the premise of the question. So, what I’m saying is, there was a moment in our interaction where I made a decision to just walk away and just focus on the work,” Wade said.
Wade and Willis’s relationship was reported in early January and corroborated by the two after allegations mounted that the pair had not only covered Wade’s vacation expenses after Willis appointed him to the position, but that the former prosecutor had met with the White House before indicting Trump. After an appeals court hearing on whether Willis’ team should be removed from the case, presiding Judge Scott McAfee gave Wade the option of resigning or for Willis and the entire office to withdraw from the case.
Wade formally offered to resign by March 15. Citing the “interests of democracy,” he asked that Trump’s lawsuit “move forward as quickly as possible.” Despite Wade’s choice, however, the Georgia Court of Appeals in June ordered McAfee to suspend all proceedings related to Trump’s lawsuit pending a decision on Willis’ possible disqualification. As a result, some legal experts believe the case will never be taken up if Willis is disqualified.
