Nathan Wade appears to have been in the Hapeville, Georgia, neighborhood of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis at least 35 times before he was hired to lead the election interference prosecution against former President Donald Trump in the county, cellphone data submitted to the court reveals.
The court filing was made by attorneys for Trump, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It raises questions about the relationship between Wade and Willis. Trump and other defendants in the case maintain Willis and her office should be disqualified from prosecuting the case.
If Wade was there to visit Willis it would appear to contradict his testimony that he had visited Willis at her condo in Hapeville no more than 10 times before he was hired in November 2021. Wade and Willis said they became romantically involved in early 2022.
The data also suggests Wade, on two occasions, arrived late at night and departed early the next morning.
According to the newspaper, Wade and Willis testified they did not spend the night together at the condo.
For her part, Willis conceded that Wade may have visited her more than 10 times at the condo, where she was staying, before her office hired Wade to lead the prosecution against Trump, NBC News said.
The newspaper noted Trump's lawyer used data from Wade's cellphone and cellphone transmission towers to track his whereabouts.
In court papers, Trump's attorneys presented an affidavit from Charles Mittelstadt, a longtime investigator for defense attorneys, who said the phone records were obtained from AT&T by subpoena.
"This conservative analysis using the above referenced modality revealed a minimum of 35 occasions when Mr. Wade's phone connected for an extended period to either one of those towers in closest proximity to the address based upon associated data," he said in the court document.
The newspaper noted that if Willis and Wade were a romantic couple before she hired him it raises questions whether she violated at least the spirit of anti-nepotism rules. And if attorneys can prove that they lied under oath about their relationship beginning in 2022, it could open them to possible perjury.
The affidavit also says Willis and Wade phoned each other more than 2,000 times during the first 11 months of 2021 and exchanged nearly 12,000 text messages, according to the newspaper.