Nathan Wade, the Atlanta-area attorney who once attempted to prosecute former President Donald Trump, may now be in some hot water himself after he apparently avoided the service of a congressional subpoena.
Last Friday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) issued a subpoena for Wade to participate in a closed-door interview regarding the Fulton County case against Trump spearheaded by Wade’s former lover, District Attorney Fani Willis.
Jordan issued the subpoena because he and other Republicans on the Judiciary Committee are looking into what Jordan characterized as the ‘politically motivated prosecution’ of Trump.
Though the subpoena demanded that Wade appear before the committee on Thursday, Wade never responded and then went missing, allegedly because he was “trying to avoid service,” a Republican lawyer familiar with the matter told the Washington Examiner.
So Jordan ordered the U.S. Marshals to go find him.
“Nathan Wade’s evasion of service is extremely unusual and will require the Committee to spend US tax dollars to locate him,” Russell Dye, a spokesman for the committee, said in a statement on Wednesday.
Wade had not responded to any of the emails associated with the subpoena, and his attorney had declined accepting service, the New York Post reported.
Several days ago, Roy Barnes, an attorney representing Willis, insisted the committee that Wade’s interview would have to be postponed so that a lawyer from Willis’ office could accompany him and “assert any necessary privilege objections.” Jordan denied that request.
“The eleventh-hour intervention from District Attorney Willis does not excuse your failure to appear for your transcribed interview,” Jordan informed Wade.
The pressure campaign appears to have worked as late Thursday evening, Wade contacted the U.S. Marshals and scheduled an appointment for subpoena service. The Post indicated that he has since been served.
Wade’s appearance before the committee will be rescheduled on account of the delay, the Post said.
Jordan issued the subpoena because he and other Republicans on the Judiciary Committee are looking into what Jordan characterized as Willis’ “politically motivated prosecution” of Trump.
Trump and 18 other defendants have been accused of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. Though pundits insisted the evidence in that case spelled trouble for Trump, the future of the case now remains largely in doubt for two main reasons.
First, the former president has challenged the merits of the charges in light of a recent Supreme Court ruling regarding presidential immunity. Three charges against Trump have already been dropped as a result.
Furthermore, Wade found himself accused of financially benefitting from the prosecution of Trump after his extramarital affair with Willis came to light earlier this year. Before he was removed from the case because of the apparent conflict of interest, Wade collected $700,000 for his work on the Trump-racketeering case, even though he has no experience prosecuting such cases.
Both Wade and Willis testified under oath that their sexual relationship began after Willis hired Wade, though cell phone data and testimony from former associates cast doubt on those assertions.
Their affair supposedly ended in the summer of 2023. However, the pair apparently remains in close contact since Wade joined Willis when she arrived on the scene of her daughter’s arrest for allegedly driving on a suspended license a few weeks ago.
Wade and his wife reached a temporary agreement in their divorce case earlier this year.
In February, Willis received a subpoena from the House Judiciary Committee regarding her office’s expenditures on the Trump case. Willis denied any wrongdoing.
“Any examination of the records of our grant programs will find that they are highly effective and conducted in cooperation with the Department of Justice and in compliance with all Department of Justice requirements,” she said in a statement.
Wade’s law office did not respond to a previous request for comment from the Examiner.
Former Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro were each sentenced to four months in prison for failing to comply with a House Jan. 6 committee subpoena.
Navarro completed his sentence earlier this year. Bannon remains in custody at this time and will be released just days before the 2024 election.
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