Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has spent nearly $550,000 bankrolling defense lawyer Nathan Wade as special prosecutor in her case against former President Donald Trump and 18 of his current or former associates who helped him contest the 2020 election in Georgia.
Records made available by the Fulton County government reveals that the Law Offices of Nathan J. Wade earned $303,226.51 in 2022, and thus far in 2023 has earned an additional $245,750. Similarly, his legal partner Christopher Campbell has received $116,670 from Fulton County between 2021 and 2023, while Fulton County paid $74,480 to former colleague Terrence Bradley in 2021 and 2022.
Wade (pictured above) and his current and former colleagues have received $740,126.51 from Fulton County.
As a private defense attorney, The Gazette reported that Wade can bill hourly and “was hand-picked by Willis” about two years ago for her case against Trump. The outlet added that “Willis chose Wade over career prosecutors who work on salaries,” drawing skepticism from a legal expert who called it “unorthodox” and “a cash cow” for Wade.
Wade & Campbell recently became the subject of national headlines after former state senator and Georgia Republican Party chair, who is a defendant in the case, received a solicitation from the law firm, which apparently sought to take him on as a client.
“Yesterday I received an eight page solicitation from the Wade & Campbell law firm” Shafer revealed in a post on X, formerly Twitter. He added, “Wade, pictured on the cover, is the Trump special prosecutor appointed by Fani Willis.”
Yesterday I received an eight page solicitation from the Wade & Campbell law firm to represent me in the Trump indictment. Nathan Wade, pictured on the cover, is the Trump special prosecutor appointed by Fani Willis. We have notified the judge and moved for an immediate hearing. pic.twitter.com/Oo317130qb
— David Shafer (@DavidShafer) September 7, 2023
On Friday, Shafer and three co-defendants in Willis’s case asked the judge to hold an evidentiary hearing to examine how the advertisement was sent, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Attorneys for Shafer specifically asked for an “appropriate sanction” that could range “from admonishment to disqualification.”
Though Wade has appeared in court alongside paid staff from Fulton County, he was the one who personally called Rudy Giuliani’s lawyer to let the former mayor know he “was a target” in August, according to attorney Robert J. Costello, who represents Giuliani, according to Law and Crime. Costello noted that “[p]reviously they refused to answer the question.”
Last week, Wade told Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee that he expected the trial to begin in October, take four months, and require testimony from 150 witnesses. In response to attempts from some defendants to sever their cases from the larger Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act indictment, Wade claimed that all defendants would require the same length of trial and number of witnesses.
Wade is a former Cobb County judge who ran for Cobb County Superior Court but was defeated in 2012, 2014, and 2016, according to The Gazette and Ballotpedia.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Georgia Star News and a reporter for the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Nathan Wade” by Wade & Campbell Firm.
