Bank records show Fulton County DA Willis and special prosecutor traveled together during Trump probe

ATLANTA – Bank records show that special prosecutor Nathan Wade purchased airline tickets in his and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ name for trips to San Francisco and Miami, according to a court motion filed Friday.

The filing was made on behalf of Joycelyn Wade in her divorce case with Nathan Wade in Cobb County Superior Court. Credit card statements in the filing appear to bolster allegations of a romantic relationship between Nathan Wade and Willis. The trips took place in 2022 and 2023, after Willis had hired Wade as special prosecutor in the probe of election subversion by Donald Trump and his allies.

A spokesman for Willis did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Joycelyn Wade’s divorce attorneys have sought to depose Willis. In the filing on Friday they criticized Willis’ attempt the day before to avoid giving a deposition in the case, calling her arguments disingenuous and specious.

Joycelyn Wade’s attorneys attached to the filing records from Nathan Wade’s Capital One bank account. It showed that he purchased $817.80 tickets for himself and Willis on April 25, 2023, to fly to San Francisco. Records show subsequent purchases at the DoubleTree hotel in Napa Valley. There were also purchases of $477.21 plane tickets in both their names to Miami on Oct. 5, 2022. Clara Bowman, who is believed to be Wade’s mother, accompanied them, records showed. Accompanying purchases from Royal Caribbean Cruises totaled more than $2,600.

The day after booking flights to Miami and the Royal Carribean cruise, Wade spent approximately $3,800 with Vacation Express, a company that offers vacation packages and tours, the records show.

The tickets do not show whether Wade and Willis stayed in the same room.

The relationship between Wade and Willis first emerged in filing by Ashleigh Merchant, attorney for Trump defendant Michael Roman. She contended that the relationship was improper because Willis financially benefited from the vacations paid for by Wade, who has been paid more than $654,000 in legal fees for his work on the election interference case against former President Donald Trump and others.

Joycelyn Wade’s attorneys had sought to take sworn testimony from Willis in a deposition on Jan. 23. On Thursday, Willis’ attorney, Cinque Axam, filed a motion seeking to quash the subpoena, saying Wade was trying to use the divorce case “to harass and embarrass District Attorney Willis, and in doing so, is obstructing and interfering with an ongoing criminal prosecutions.”

Obstruction is a criminal offense in Georgia.

Willis’ motion also said the Wades’ marriage had been irretrievably broken because Joycelyn Wade had an adulterous relationship with a longtime friend of Nathan Wade’s.

In the response filed Friday, Joycelyn Wade’s lawyers said Willis “does, in fact, possess intimate information about the Wades’ marriage, albeit false and libelous misinformation.” The motion said Wade did not have an affair with that individual nor did she meet with him in person.

As regards to a possible obstruction charge, the motion said, “Ms. Willis’ implied threat to pursue charges against (Joycelyn Wade) and her counsel, based on inconvenient facts from her personal life that are directly relevant to the ongoing divorce proceedings … is an affront to the integrity of her office.”

Joycelyn Wade’s lawyers said they want to depose Willis to get “pertinent information from her husband’s paramour” regarding their relationship as well as his financial involvement in that relationship. Their response added, “These answers are relevant to the equitable division of the marital estate, dissipation of marital assets and (Nathan Wade’s) capacity to provide spousal support.”

The divorce case is before Cobb County Superior Court Judge Henry Thompson, who must decide whether Willis sits for the deposition. Thompson also has requests from Merchant and a number of news media organizations, including The Atlanta Journal-Constutiton, to unseal the Wades’ divorce file.

__________

Atlanta Journal-Constitution staff writers Charles Minshew and Tamar Hallerman contributed to this story.