Nathan Wade Says Willis Relationship Grew ‘Organically’ but Had ‘No Place’ in Courtroom

(Left) Fanni Willis testifies at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, on Feb. 15, 2024. (Right) Nathan Wade looks on during a hearing at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, on Feb. 15, 2024. Alyssa Pointer/Getty Images

Nathan Wade, the former special prosecutor for Fulton County, Georgia, has acknowledged there was “no place” in the courtroom for his romantic relationship with District Attorney Fani Willis.

Mr. Wade made the comments during an interview with MSNBC’s Joy Reid on Wednesday where he also provided more details regarding his romance with Ms. Willis, including how it first began.

“I felt like we dealt with it in a manner that was professional,” he said. “We kept our personal lives personal and private and I still believe that it had no place in the courtroom. Not now and not then.”

Mr. Wade’s comments came in response to questioning over his romantic relationship with Ms. Willis, who is currently prosecuting former President Donald Trump over his alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The relationship between the two was initially brought to light in court papers filed by Michael Roman, a codefendant of President Trump who previously served as a Trump campaign staffer and a one-time White House aide.

Romance ‘Grew Organically’

In those legal filings, Mr. Roman alleged that Mr. Wade and Ms. Willis not only engaged in an inappropriate personal relationship but also inappropriately benefitted financially from their arrangement, a claim both Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade denied.

Both Mr. Wade and Ms. Willis claim they ended their relationship in 2023.

Mr. Wade resigned from the case against the former president in March after admitting to his romance with Ms. Willis.

The revelation prompted Judge Scott McAfee—the judge presiding over the Trump election case—to criticize their “unprofessional” behavior and “tremendous lapse in judgment.”

Despite Republican lawmakers calling for Ms. Willis to be removed from the case against President Trump, the judge allowed her to continue her high-profile prosecution against him in return for Mr. Wade resigning.

Speaking to MSNBC on Wednesday, the former Fulton County special prosecutor claimed his romance with Ms. Willis was not “deliberate or intentional,” and said it simply “grew organically over time.”

“I made the statement earlier that workplace romances are as American as apple pie, right? That was not to make light of the situation. That was just to say that it could happen to anyone,” he said. “Of course, it doesn’t happen to everyone but it’s a thing that happened to us.”

He further insisted he and Ms. Willis only maintained a professional relationship when he first joined the case against President Trump in November 2021, which was around the same time he filed for divorce from his wife of 26 years.

Asked what his relationship is like with Ms. Willis following his stepping down from the case, Mr. Willis told MSNBC that the two are the “best of friends” and communicate daily.

He further added that Ms. Willis is the “only other person on the planet who knows what I’m going through and I know what she’s going through,” referencing alleged threats he has received.

Willis Wins Nomination

Mr. Wade also acknowledged that he had attended a party on Tuesday night to celebrate Ms. Willis’s victory over challenger Christian Wise Smith after she secured the Democratic nomination for district attorney in Fulton County in her re-election bid.

“When I was a part of the team [prosecuting President Trump], we talked all the time but we talked about the case, it was about business,” Mr. Wade said. “Now there’s been a shift in the communication and it’s more about, ‘hey, how are you handling the pressure’ and my response to her, just as hers is to me is a candid one, ‘I’m doing fine,’” he said.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Judge McAfee defeated Robert Patillo, a civil rights attorney, to win reelection.