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Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade was held in contempt of court for “willfully” failing to turn over court documents relating to his income during his divorce proceedings. The income included money that was gained from prosecuting the case against President Donald Trump.
Wade has come under scrutiny lately regarding an alleged undisclosed relationship he had with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Willis put Wade in charge of prosecuting Donald Trump for alleged election interference in Georgia, despite Wade being a divorce lawyer and having little experience in high-profile criminal prosecutions.
The Washington Examiner reported over the weekend that they have obtained court documents showing that Wade was held in contempt of court for “willfully” failing to turn over documents about his income.
Wade’s wife’s lawyers wrote that the information Wade did provide ““was so woefully inadequate as to be useless.”
Former Trump campaign official Michael Roman claimed in a lawsuit that Wade has been paid $654,000 in legal fees by Fulton County since January 2022.
Wade was ordered by Judge R. Thompson, who is presiding over the divorce case, in May 2023 to turn over a host of financial documents, including all income statements since 2016.
In August the judge discovered that Wade had not complied with the ruling. Just days later the racketeering indictment of Donald Trump came down and 18 others, including Rudy Guiliani.
Thompson wrote that Wade “willfully failed to timely and fully respond to discovery and has shown his total disregard for the discovery process”, the Washington Examiner reported.
“It is clear that Plaintiff is unwilling to cooperate and will not comply unless compelled to do so by order of this Court,” Thompson said.
The judge threatened that Wade could face contempt and sanctions, although there is not evidence if the judge followed through with his threats.
“This is bizarre,” Randall Kessler, an Atlanta divorce lawyer who formerly chaired the American Bar Association’s Family Law Section, said. “The judge basically said, ‘Shame on you.’”
“To actually be found in willful contempt, it’s not a good position,” said Yaniv Heled, a professor at Georgia State College of Law who focuses on family law. “It’s not a place where you want to be with the judge.”
“It is rare that it gets to this level,” Kessler said.