State lawmakers grill former special prosecutor Nathan Wade over Georgia Trump election case

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ATLANTA (AP) — State senators on Friday grilled the former special prosecutor who led the Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump about communications his team had with federal investigators. But their efforts were largely frustrated by his repeated assertions that he couldn't remember details.

Nathan Wade appeared before a subcommittee of the Special Committee on Investigations, which was created by the Republican-dominated state Senate in January 2024 to examine various allegations of misconduct against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, an elected Democrat, with regard to her prosecution of Trump.

While the committee has met multiple times to hear from witnesses, including a combative appearance by Willis in December, it has unearthed little that wasn’t already known. Republicans expanded the committee’s mission to also look into Democrat Stacey Abrams, but the committee has thus far done nothing publicly with her.

Willis obtained an indictment against Trump and 18 others in August 2023. Using Georgia’s anti-racketeering law, she alleged that they had participated in a wide-ranging conspiracy to illegally overturn Trump’s narrow loss in Georgia. Four people pleaded guilty in the months that followed after reaching deals with prosecutors.

The resolution creating the committee focused on Wade's hiring as a special prosecutor, saying a romantic relationship between him and Willis amounted to a “clear conflict of interest and a fraud upon the taxpayers” of the county and state. An appeals court in December 2024 removed Willis from the case, finding the relationship created “an appearance of impropriety,” and a new prosecutor dismissed it last November.

While the senators did ask Wade about his hiring — including the timing and how he came to be chosen — there was no mention of his romance with Willis. An opening statement Wade read at the start of the hearing indicated that there had been an agreement beforehand that no personal relationship would be discussed.

Mostly, though, Sen. Greg Dolezal asked Wade about his invoices, particularly several billing entries that seemed to indicate contact with the U.S. House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and meetings with U.S. Department of Justice officials. But Wade repeatedly said he could not recall when trips or calls happened, who he met or spoke with, who else from his team had participated or what was discussed.

Wade also pushed back, saying there seems to be a big focus on who the team was talking to, but he asserted that the investigative work was done by the team Willis assembled.

“She led us, I led the team and we did the work," he said. “We didn't get assistance, coordination, however you want to characterize it. No one held her hand and guided her through the process. This is her work.”

Wade also defended the integrity of the case against Trump and others.

“The investigation was not politically motivated or influenced,” he said. “Rather, it was an independent investigation based on facts, interviews, evidence and the rule of law.”

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Dolezal conceded that he did not get everything he wanted. “Look, I wish Mr. Wade had a better memory,” he said, adding that he appreciated Wade appearing and answering questions “to the best of his recollection.”

But Dolezal said he was glad to have established that Wade and his team met with someone connected with the Jan. 6 investigation and also that they were in touch with Department of Justice officials. He said it raises questions about how much coordination existed in an attempt to “get Trump.”

“That notion that it was part of some big conspiracy is absolute fiction,” said Andrew Evans, a lawyer for Wade. He accused the Republican senators of trying to use the committee to shift the focus from real issues that are unfavorable to them as midterm elections approach.

Including Dolezal, who is running for lieutenant governor, four of the five Republicans on the committee are running for statewide office in 2026. Bill Cowsert is running for attorney general, while Sens. Blake Tillery and Steve Gooch are also each seeking the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Another Republican who had been on the committee, John Kennedy, resigned to pursue his own lieutenant governor bid. Only Dolezal and Cowsert were present for Friday's subcommittee meeting.

The subcommittee also heard testimony Friday from Fulton County Deputy District Attorney Jeff DiSantis, who handles media relations for Willis' office. He was asked about Wade's hiring, which he said he wasn't aware of until it had been decided, and about the district attorney's office's use of a media monitoring service.