Fani Willis speaks at an Atlanta church on Sunday
Georgia district attorney Fani Willis is defending her hiring of a special prosecutor, who allegedly is also her lover, on the criminal RICO case against Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump and 18 codefendants..Willis calls Nathan Wade a legal "superstar" and a lawyer with "impeccable credentials. Longtime Alabama attorney and criminal-defense expert Donald Watkins says Wade is neither and suggests he and Willis might wind up with significant legal problems of their own.
In a public statement at Big Bethel AME Church in Atlanta on Sunday, Willis raised the specter of racism as an explanation for the press' focus on Wade, who is Black, over two other Trump-case special prosecutors, who are White. Watkins, however, says the heat that Willis and Wade are feeling has nothing to do with White racism.
Under the headline "Fani T. Willis Defends Her Hiring of Special Prosecutor Nathan J. Wade; Willis Calls Wade a Legal "Superstar," Watkins writes:
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 benefited from this previously undisclosed personal relationship.
[Click here to read the entire 127-page motion, with exhibits].
Watkins poses the big question of the moment in the Trump case: So, What Makes Nathan J. Wade a Legal “Superstar”? Watkins' answer is not flattering, to Wade or Willis:
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 might be a superstar in areas unknown to the public, but he is NOT a legal "superstar."
As for the claim that racism forced Wade and Willis into an uncomfortable spotlight, Watkins says that claim is full of holes:
Sunday, 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.
Watkins' succinct conclusion? 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. Further, Watkins writes:
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 an alleged 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.
What is the No. 1 takeaway from this sad tale of colossally bad judgment? Watkins spells it out in bold type:Willis Has Blown Trump’s RICO Case. Writes Watkins:
Fani T. Willis took a rock-solid RICO and conspiracy case against Donald Trump and his 18 codefendants 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 on 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.
