Explosive divorce documents that could derail the election fraud case against Donald Trump in Georgia were unsealed by a judge Monday.
Evidence of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ relationship with Nathan Wade — the special prosecutor bringing the election fraud charges — is included in the file, in the form of credit card charges for trips the pair took together to Florida and California.
Lawyers for Wade’s wife of 26 years, Joycelyn Wade, also state he has deliberately hidden his true earnings — totaling almost $700,000 for his work as special prosecutor — from her in an attempt to avoid paying her her fair share in their divorce.
Wade and Willis’ alleged romantic relationship was first exposed in a filing in the election fraud case on Jan. 8 by defendant Michael Roman.
He claimed their “improper” relationshippresented a professional conflict of interest, amounted to a misuse of county funds and asked for them both to be dismissed.
Although he provided no evidence with his filing, he cited Wade’s divorce file as the source of proof.
Wade had initially filed for divorce a day after he was made special prosecutor, then immediately asked for the documents to be sealed — a hint that they contained information he did not want the public to see.
At an emergency hearing in Cobb County on Monday, Judge Henry Thompson decided the case should beavailable to thepublic and heard arguments as to whether Willisshould sit for a deposition.
Andrea Hastings, an attorney for Joycelyn, argued Monday that Willis “knows the cause of the separation” between the former couple and accused her of hindering Hastings’ ability to access information relevant to the case.
Documents released from the file show repeated attempts by Wade to avoid disclosing his earnings, leading the court to order him to hand over bank statements to his wife’s legal team.
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Joycelyn’s attorneys then accused Wade of leaving her destitute while spending lavishly — including on vacations with Willis, spending over $1,600 for flights to San Francisco in April 2023 and $1,200 on travel for them and Willis’ mother to Miami in October 2022.
On Monday, Willis’ lawyer Cinque Axom appeared by video to argue that Willis shouldn’t be deposed by Joycelyn because “alleged adultery is not relevant” and their divorce case “has nothing to do with Ms. Willis.”
Axom claimed the only matter in the divorce is how to divide the marital assets.
Hastings shot back, “I want to know how he has been spending his money.I have reason to believe he is spending it on another woman and that’s my client’s money.”
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Other credit card charges run up by Waderevealed by his wife’s lawyers included over $2,500 charged by Royal Caribbean Cruises around the same time as the flights to Miami were purchased and $3,835 with a company called Vacation Express.
Wade also splurged another $992 on the Freedom of the Seas, a cruise liner which travels between Florida and the Caribbean, on October 31.
He also spent $370 at the Hyatt Regency in Aruba on Nov. 4 and paid over $3,000 to Norwegian Cruise lines on Nov. 6,although the credit card statements offer no proof that Willis was with Wade when those purchases were made.
Hastings also noted a filing by Willis last week was the first time the “false” claim that Joycelyn had an affair with Nathan’s friend, effectively ending the marriage in 2017, had been made.
That “clearly demonstrates she has unique personal knowledge,” she added.
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“We are not seeking her deposition as the DA,” Hastings clarified, adding she was seeking the deposition “as the alleged paramour of my client’s husband. I’m sure it’s inconvenient. It’s inconvenient for all of us. However, I have questions and she needs to answer them.”
Willis, whobrought charges against Trump and 18 co-defendants, hired Wade as a private attorney with the Atlanta-based Wade & Campbell Firm, to oversee the case in late 2021.
Trump and the 14 remaining co-defendants in the case have all pleaded not guilty.
Roman’s argument is that Wade was using funds paid to him by the Fulton County DA’s Office for their personal trips, so Willis was benefiting, which amounts to misuse of county funds.
Willis is under investigationby theFulton County Board of Commissioners’ audit committee over potential “misuse” of taxpayer funds.
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Meanwhile, Joycelyn’s lawyers reveal in the newly unsealed documents the lengths they say Wade went to to hide from his wife how much he was earning.
They claim Wade was owner of the firm that bears his name, Wade, Bradley & Campbell, but dissolved the practice during the divorce and is now just a partner, in an attempt to lower his net worth.
“Plaintiff [Wade] has dissolved and formulated entirely new business entities purportedlybefore and during the pendency of this case; yet, he has refused to comply withdiscovery so as to provide even the most basic financials regarding same,” Hastings wrote in her motion on behalf of Joycelyn.
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“Plaintiff is acting in ways which make him appear to be deliberately ‘transitioning’ his business[es] in order to hide information.”
Joycelyn said she has depended on Wade’s bi-weekly payments of $700 directly to her bank account that she uses for household and personal expenses, but claims he has been withdrawing from this account and has left it “routinely overdrawn.”
Joycelyn said because her ex is keepingmoney from her, she had to rely on her father for support, until he recently passed away, leaving her with no source of income.
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On Tuesday, Thompson said he would not make a ruling on whether Willis will have to sit for a deposition until after Wade has given evidence.
“It seems to me that Mr. Wade would be the first and best source of information about what his income has been, and how he’s been spending it and he would have first-hand knowledge about whether he has engaged in an extramarital affair,” said Thompson.
In a statement to The Post, Hastings said she supports the judge’s decision to unseal documents in the divorce.
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“Transparency is the key to reaching a fair and equitabledivorce settlement and Ms. Wade has nothing to hide,” Hastings said. “We fully support Judge Thompson’s ruling to make information public.
“We expect Mr. Wade will be forced to provide more answers to questions about both his conduct and his finances. We look forward to learning more in court,” she added.
Separate from Wade’s divorce filing in Cobb County, Judge Scott McAfee is presiding over the Georgia election interference case in Fulton County.
He said in court Friday he expects to hold a hearing about the allegations of Wade and Willis’ relationship in early February and set a deadline for Feb. 2 for Willis to respond to the allegations.
The Trump case has not yet been scheduled for trial.
