Nathan Wade might need to rethink his media strategy.
The former Fulton County special prosecutor has been hitting the airwaves ever since he resigned from the team in charge of the Georgia election-interference case against Donald Trump, fielding interviews from MSNBC and even The View.
But Wade’s recent sit-down with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins quickly grew awkward as Wade paused their talk midway to confer with a member of his team after Collins asked him about his past relationship with Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis.
Earlier this year, it emerged that Willis and Wade, who worked on her team, had been in a romantic relationship. An attorney representing one of the defendants in the racketeering case filed a motion to dismiss the case, citing a conflict of interest between the two. Willis and Wade were grilled during a hearing on the matter, forced to answer deeply personal questions about the length of their relationship and whether the district attorney financially benefited from taking on the case. In the end, the judge ruled that Willis could continue on in the trial if Wade stepped down. He soon submitted his resignation.
During the CNN interview, Collins asked Wade about the current state of his relationship with Willis. “We are great friends,” he said. “We speak regularly. The conversation has changed, though, whereas before our conversations were about this case.”
Collins then asked Wade about when his relationship with Willis first started. “There’s been this effort to say that these exact dates are at issue,” Wade began, looking at someone off-camera. “I’m being signaled here,” he said.
A man whom CNN identified as Wade’s media consultant came to his side and asked if they could briefly go off mic. Cameras continued to roll as Wade received help with removing his mic. He rose from his seat and huddled with his consultant with their backs turned. After speaking for a moment, Wade then sat down and the interview continued.
“Everything okay?” Collins asked.
“Yeah,” Wade said.
Collins then asked the question again, and Wade demurred this time, saying the public already has a clear timeline of his and Willis’s relationship from testimony and other interviews. “It is not a relevant issue in this case, and I think that we should be focusing on more of the facts and the indictment in the case,” he said. Wade indicated that he didn’t want to comment further, citing the fact that the Georgia Court of Appeals is set to decide on the matter of Willis’s disqualification.
Wade said that while he regrets the “timing” of the relationship, he doesn’t believe his actions played a role in the delay of the Trump cases, which has been put on hold by a Georgia appeals court.
