Records in a divorce case involving a special prosecutor investigating former President Donald Trump were unsealed on Jan. 22, showing that the prosecutor was held in contempt for failing to comply with a court order.
Special prosecutor Nathan Wade is embroiled in divorce proceedings with Jocelyn Wade.
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 reads.
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 that Mr. Wade has provided “nearly nothing” for “support and survival” to Ms. Wade despite that he has received nearly $700,000 from his employer since May 2022 and that she has been a stay-at-home mom for the past 26 years.
The only payments from Mr. Wade to his wife have been biweekly payments of $700, one filing states. But those payments have been undercut by Mr. Wade’s alleged use of the account in question for his own expenses.
Mr. and Ms. Wade were married in 1997. They separated in 2021. Mr. Wade filed for divorce on Nov. 2, 2021. He said the marriage was “irretrievably broken.”
“Transparency is the key to reaching a fair and equitable divorce settlement and Ms. Wade has nothing to hide,” Andrea Hastings, a lawyer representing Ms. Wade, said in a statement. “We fully support [the] ruling to make information public.”
An attorney representing Mr. Wade declined to comment.
The documents were sealed in 2022 because “potential harm to the privacy of the parties” outweighed “the right of the public to access the records,” according to a court order.
Subpoena
That order was incorrectly entered without a hearing, which is in violation of state rules, lawyer Ashleigh Merchant argued on Jan. 22.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 that 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 that 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 said in a recent filing that the district attorney “cannot provide unique personal knowledge of any matter that is relevant to Mr. 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 said 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 reads, noting 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 in a Jan. 19 filing that was previously disclosed to the public show 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,” Ms. Hastings 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.
