A Georgia judge on Monday postponed a deposition by Fulton County District County Fani Willis in the divorce case involving the special prosecutor she hired to investigate former President Donald Trump.
Superior Court Judge Henry Thompson, presiding in Cobb County, said there are opportunities in the coming days to hear from Mr. Wade in his divorce case before trying to draw information from Ms. Willis, who allegedly had an affair with Mr. Wade.
Mr. Wade’s wife, Joycelyn, wants to depose Ms. Willis in light of a motion by a co-defendant in the Trump election subversion case that claims the district attorney and Mr. Wade took trips together after Mr. Wade received taxpayer money.
The allegations were bolstered by bank statements filed Friday in the case that document Mr. Wade’s purchase of round-trip airline tickets for Ms. Willis. He bought flights from Atlanta to San Francisco in April on Delta Airlines and bought Ms. Willis and himself round-trip tickets from Atlanta to Miami in October 2022 on American Airlines, the bank statements revealed.
The statements do not disclose whether Ms. Willis reimbursed Mr. Wade for the tickets or explain the purpose of the trips.
The allegations of an improper relationship between Ms. Willis and the man she hired to prosecute Mr. Trump could impact both the divorce case and the sprawling criminal case against the former and 18 co-defendants.
Judge Thompson said he needed to learn more from Mr. Wade before dragging Ms. Willis into the divorce proceedings. Her deposition had been scheduled for Tuesday.
“Without me knowing what Mr. Wade would say it seems to be 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 that he would have firsthand knowledge of whether he is engaged in an extramarital affair,” the judge said. “Only after I hear what Mr. Wade has to say do I think I can make a determination of whether [Ms. Willis] has any unique knowledge about these issues.”
He ruled after a hearing in which Joycelyn Wade’s attorney said Ms. Willis could not use her position as a top prosecutor to shield her from a deposition in the divorce case.
Yet Ms. Willis’s attorney said the district attorney does not share any accounts with Mr. Wade and cannot provide any information that couldn’t be received from other sources, in particular Mr. Wade.
Judge Thompson did, however, grant a motion to unseal records in the divorce case, meaning the media, lawyers and persons involved in the Trump case could gain insight into the alleged relationship between Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade.
Ms. Willis began investigating Mr. Trump three years ago based on his bid to pressure Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to dig up enough votes to overtake President Biden’s narrow electoral victory in the state in 2020.
A grand jury last year indicted Mr. Trump and his associates under Georgia racketeering charges.
One co-defendant, Michael Roman, says Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade may have profited from the prosecution of Mr. Trump and his allies by taking trips after taxpayers paid the special prosecutor. He wants Ms. Willis disqualified.
Mr. Trump says the allegations taint the entire case.
The judge overseeing the Trump case scheduled a Feb. 15 hearing to address claims that Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade had an inappropriate relationship while working on the case.
Ms. Willis has until Feb. 2 to formally respond to Mr. Roman’s claims.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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