Documents say Fulton County DA Fani Willis was booked on flights bought by prosecutor with whom she's accused of having affair
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was booked on at least two sets of round trip flights purchased by a special prosecutor with whom she's accused of having a romantic entanglement, records appear to show.
Jocelyn Wade, the estranged wife of special prosecutor Nathan Wade, filed an exhibit in the couple's divorce proceedings on Friday purportedly showing the spending history of a credit card used by Nathan Wade. The document shows Nathan Wade booking tickets for himself and Willis on flights to and from San Francisco and Miami.
The new filing came one day after an attorney for Willis accused Jocelyn Wade of trying to interfere with the district attorney's election interference case against former President Donald Trump and other defendants. Jocelyn Wade is seeking to question Willis in the Wades' ongoing divorce case, and filed the new exhibit in response to Willis' claim.
Until Friday's filing, no evidence of the alleged relationship had been made public.
Willis was first publicly accused of being romantically involved with Nathan Wade last week in a filing by Michael Roman, one of Trump's co-defendants. Roman alleged in a motion that Willis and Wade carried on an "improper, clandestine personal relationship" while Willis paid him more than $650,000 over several years to work on the case. He claimed that some of that money was used for Caribbean cruises they took together, as well as for trips to Florida and California's Napa Valley.
That same day, Willis was served a subpoena in the Wades' divorce case. Her attorney called the subpoena "an attempt to harass and damage" Willis' reputation.
Willis' office has said it will respond to Jocelyn Wade's accusations in a filing due on Feb. 2. A hearing on the matter is set for Feb. 15.
A spokesperson for Willis did not immediately return a request for comment on Friday.
Many of the filings in the Wades' divorce proceedings are sealed. A coalition of news organizations, including CBS News, has filed a request to unseal those documents.
Willis defended the decision to hire Wade — who had not previously prosecuted a complex racketeering case — during a speech at an Atlanta church on Sunday. She called him a "superstar" who has "impeccable credentials," noting that he has been a lawyer for two decades and a municipal judge for 10 years.
Trump and Roman have each pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges in a case that accuses them and others of plotting to illegally overturn Georgia's 2020 presidential election results.
It is unclear what, if any, bearing the accusations against Willis and Nathan Wade will have on the case. CBS News legal analyst Rikki Kleiman says the allegations could have consequences whether they're proven or not.
"I do not expect this case to be dismissed and go away, but it is not out of the question for a different prosecutor and a different prosecutor's office to take charge of the case, to simply remove the taint of the appearance of impropriety," she said.
The controversy has caught the attention of Trump's attorney in the case, Steven Sadow, who posted about it on the social media network LinkedIn Friday.
"PROOF — look at pages 12-15: Travel and hotel records of Special Prosecutor Wade and DA Willis," Sadow posted, sharing a copy of Jocelyn Wade's filing.
Graham KatesGraham Kates is an investigative reporter covering criminal justice, privacy issues and information security for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at [email protected] or [email protected]
