WASHINGTON ― Former Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade arrived at the Capitol Hill offices of the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday morning for what is scheduled to be an all-day, closed-door deposition.
The GOP-led panel is expected to question Wade about the Fulton election interference case, which he oversaw until he was forced to step aside in March. The committee will also likely ask about meetings between the District Attorney’s office and the White House and congressional Jan. 6 committee, as well as the DA’s use of federal grant funding.
Wade was trailed by reporters as he walked into the committee room accompanied by his legal team, which was recently expanded to include Roy Barnes, the former Democratic governor of Georgia. Barnes has also been representing Fulton DA Fani Willis before the committee.
After about two hours, Wade took a break. He declined to answer questions but Barnes said his client was cooperating with investigators.
For more than a year, the Judiciary panel has investigated Willis and her handling of the 2020 election interference case involving former President Donald Trump and more than a dozen others. Chairman Jim Jordan is one of Trump’s most prominent Capitol Hill loyalists.
The Ohio Republican has accused Willis and Wade, her onetime deputy and ex-romantic partner, of profiting off the Trump case, which he’s described as a “politically motivated prosecution.”
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
The addition of Barnes to Wade’s legal team is likely to add even more fuel to what has fast become a political circus. In a Sept. 30 letter to Jordan, Barnes urged Jordan to “take some deep breaths and calm down.”
“An anger management course might also help,” said Barnes, who served as governor from 1999 to 2003.
Wade is not expected to answer many questions from the committee. In a letter to Wade late last week, Willis told him he had a “continuing obligation not to disclose any confidential information related to ongoing criminal matters on which you worked” and that the DA’s office was “asserting all applicable legal protections and privileges over the information you obtained” while working as special prosecutor.
Republican and Democratic staff members of the committee are taking turns leading rounds of questioning with Wade each hour.
The Marietta attorney’s appearance was months in the making. His lawyers had been in talks with the Judiciary Committee before the panel opted to subpoena him last month.
Wade has been of interest to the Judiciary committee ever since a group of defendants in the election interference case publicized the details of his romantic relationship with Willis and accused the DA of a conflict of interest.
Indeed, the bulk of the election interference case remains frozen as the Georgia Court of Appeals considers arguments from those defendants, who say Willis and her office should be removed from the prosecution in part because of the DA’s romantic relationship with Wade. Oral arguments are scheduled for Dec. 5.
Jordan has said that Wade’s testimony could help the committee determine whether it needs to advance legislation to “remedy politically motivated local prosecutions” or set stricter guidelines on how federal grant funds are used.
