By: Donald V. Watkins
Copyrighted and Published on January 15, 2024
An Editorial Opinion
Under fire for her decision to hire a special prosecutor who lacked basic qualifications for the complex RICO case against Donald J. Trump and his 18 co-defendants, Fulton County District attorney doubled down and defended her lover -- Nathan J. Wade.
In church yesterday, Willis called Wade a legal “superstar” who is uniquely qualified for the role.
Willis did not dispute that she and Wade are lovers, a status that commenced while Wade was married to his wife, Joscelyn.
On January 8, 2024, Trump co-defendant Michael Roman filed a motion alleging that Willis and Wade enjoyed an undisclosed illicit relationship as lovers and that Willis financially benefitted from this previously undisclosed personal relationship.
So, What Makes Nathan J. Wade a Legal “Superstar”?
Nathan J. Wade is not a recognized expert in state or federal RICO prosecutions. Wade has not published articles in professional journals on RICO cases.
Wade has not served as lecturer on RICO or any other subject in mandatory continuing legal education courses for licensed attorneys in Georgia.
All of Wade’s prior positions within Georgia’s criminal justice system have been low-level political appointments. He has never been elected to any prosecutorial or judgeship position.
Wade has never been a Bar Examiner in Georgia, or elsewhere.
Wade lists no landmark cases of any kind on his firm’s bio page.
Nathan J. Wade has a Martindale-Hubbell five-star rating based upon peer reviews by two people. However, Wade does not have a Martindale-Hubbell “AV” rating, which must be awarded by a committee of his legal peers in Marietta, Georgia.
The “AV” rating is the highest peer rating standard. This is given to attorneys who are ranked at the highest level of professional excellence for their legal expertise, communication skills, and ethical standards by their peers.
Wade also lacks the lower “Distinguished” and “Notable” peer review rating awards.
Wade has not been recognized in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Forbes Magazine, Fortune Magazine, or any other national publication for his work as a legal “superstar.”
Yet, Willis called Wade “a lawyer with impeccable credentials.”
Nathan J. Wade may be a superstar in areas unknown to the public, but he is NOT a legal "superstar."
Is the Focus on Nathan J. Wade the Result of White Racism?
Yesterday, Willis suggested that Nathan J. Wade is being subjected to heightened scrutiny in the Trump case because he is black. Willis pointed out that two other special prosecutors working on the Trump RICO case are white. These attorneys are John Floyd and Anna Green Cross.
Billing records in the case show that Nathan Wade’s law firm has been paid $654,000 by the District Attorney’s Office since January 2022.
According to billing documents reviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Cross’ firm has been paid almost $43,000 for her work on the Trump election interference case while Floyd’s has been paid $73,000 by the DA’s office.
No defendant in Trump’s RICO case has alleged that Anna Green Cross or John Floyd is engaged in an illicit sexual relationship with Willis.
To be clear, "white racism" is NOT a factor in questions about the hiring of Nathan J. Wade, or his lack of credentials, or his "padded" invoicing in Trump's case.
On a personal level, taxpayers in Birmingham took me to the Alabama Supreme Court because the city of Birmingham paid me $8 million to win 73 straight cases from 1985 to 1992. In my case, a certain segment of the city's population thought I was winning too many cases that dismantled the barriers erected by prior administration to slow the economic, educational, and political progress of the city's black citizens.
Regardless of the motivation, heightened public scrutiny of the expenditure of public funds is ALWAYS a good thing.
In Fani T. Willis' case, no white racist made Willis hire a prosecutor who lacks felony prosecution experience, who lacks experience in prosecuting RICO cases, and who has shown no demonstrable expertise in prosecuting any category of felonies in the indictment.
Willis' hiring of Wade is particularly troubling because it involves a boyfriend-girlfriend hookup where public funds are used to financially secure the boyfriend's future while he is divorcing his wife.
Furthermore, Wade submitted a litany of invoices that appear to be "padded," which is a classic sign of gouging.
Based upon what we knew today, Fani Willis, herself, approved the payment of Wade's padded invoices.
Willis Has Blown Trump’s RICO Case
Fani T. Willis took a rock-solid RICO and conspiracy case against Donald Trump and his 18 co-defendants and blew it. Her conduct in hiring an objectively unqualified Nathan J. Wade to serve as a lead special prosecutor in Trump’s RICO case has turned a solid criminal case into a circus about her sex life with a married man.
Heightened scrutiny of the Willis-Wade contracts is NOT the result of "white racism."
This is a tragic case where Fani T. Willis’ bedroom lust overrode her reasonable business judgment in the biggest case in America.
This lapse in ethical conduct and business judgment will not end well for Fani T. Willis or Nathan J. Wade.
Fani T. Willis has gotten herself into a big mess. Willis needs to immediately terminate her office's contracts with Nathan J. Wade and his law firm. There needs to be an independent audit of Wade's invoices and payments. The "gouged" amount paid to Wade needs to be clawed back. Willis also needs to suspend her romantic relationship with Wade until after he is divorced.
And there it is!