The Trump indictment case in Georgia is well underway. And we already have the first major mistake.
Because Trump prosecutors are going to forever regret this error they made in court.
According to county records, Fulton County DA Fani Willis has paid private attorneys a hefty sum for their services. Some of these payments may have been related to the investigation and prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
From January 2022 to August 2023, Nathan Wade, the primary prosecutor for Willis, received over $500,000 from the Fulton County DA’s Office.
Records also reveal that Wade’s coworker at Wade & Campbell Firm, Christopher Campbell, was paid $116,670 between April 2021 and August 2023.
From May 2021 through June 2022, Wade’s former coworker Terrence Bradley was paid $74,480.
Willis chose Wade, a defense attorney who bills by the hour, to be the special prosecutor in the Trump case almost two years ago. Wade, a former municipal court judge in Cobb County, ran for and lost election to the Cobb County Superior Court in 2012, 2014, and 2016. While the legality of Willis choosing Wade over salaried career prosecutors has not been called into question at this time, some, including Phil Holloway, an Atlanta attorney with over twenty years of experience, have found the utilization of Wade to be “unorthodox.”
Holloway characterized it as “unorthodox” and “a cash cow for any lawyer paid by the hour.” “I’ve been practicing criminal law in Georgia for 24 years, and I’ve never seen such an arrangement.”
After launching his investigation into Trump in February 2021, Willis accused him and 18 others for racketeering last month on grounds that they had illegally plotted to reverse the results of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.
On Thursday, one of the defendants, former Georgia GOP Chairman David Shafer, filed a motion requesting Judge Scott McAfee to hold a hearing “regarding improper contact by special prosecutor’s law firm.” Shafer is demanding a retrial because of the large sums paid to private prosecutors.
After being charged with “impersonating a public officer,” Shafer shared advertising he got from Wade’s firm seeking clients in need of criminal defense services.
While the mailing had the shape of a typical advertisement, it highlighted the uncomfortable situation of a private attorney providing defense services to the individual against whom he was prosecuting.
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
In the court filing, Shafer’s attorney claimed that the “anti-contact” rule had been broken because “the harassing, or mocking, and intimidating nature of the firm’s communication with Mr. Shafer causes grave injury to the appearance of fairness and propriety of this proceeding.”
Holloway noticed that as an outsourced lawyer, Wade was able to avoid the usual responsibilities of public service.
Holloway explained that this “for starters” circumvents the need for an oath of office and the fixed pay criteria for the selection of assistant district attorneys. According to Holloway, “the oath of office is intended to protect the public from malfeasance by public officials and carries a criminal penalty if violated.”
Holloway warned that the morale of Willis’s office personnel may suffer if Willis comes across as finding them “incapable” because to their usage of Wade.
No one from Willis’s office responded to repeated requests for comment.
Defense attorney Andrew Fleischman of Georgia has also spoken out against the price tag of hiring Wade and his firm, tweeting that the money is going “to a dude who has never tried a RICO case.”
Huh. Interesting. Would Willis really waste all that time and money on a trial that'd be a nullity?
— Varad Mehta (@varadmehta) September 2, 2023
When asked about the payments to Wade again, Fleischman said he found it “troubling,” citing the “massive backlog of cases” at the district attorney’s department.
A source close to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office told the media that they were not “getting the play that it should” regarding the payments to Wade and the others.
Stay tuned to the Federalist Wire.
