In an exclusive interview with ABC News, former Fulton County prosecutor Nathan Wade speaks out for the first time since being ousted in the Trump election interference case.
In the interview, Wade says that workplace relationships are “as American as apple pie.”
Wade was chosen by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to help prosecute Trump and 19 co-defendants. After much scrutiny and allegations of impropriety from opposed Republicans, Willis and Wade admitted to having a romantic relationship.
Wade, who has worked on divorce and other civil cases in Atlanta for years, said that when he was brought on the Trump case and began to work side by side with Willis in her office, their colleague-to-colleague friendship turned into something more.
“It happens to everyone. It happened to the two of us,” he told ABC.
After the much publicized hearing to determine whether Willis’ office would be removed from the case, the judge ruled that their relationship was not illegal.
As a compromise, the judge ruled that if Wade left the case, the case could go forward in Fulton County. Wade chose to step aside from the case.
When asked whether he regretted the relationship, Wade said, “I hate that my personal life has begun to overshadow the true issues in the case,” he said.
For her part, Willis had been unapologetic about the hubris and continues to press forward in her prosecution of Trump, despite criticism and even death threats.
Speaking to a church in January, Willis said that she is far from perfect.
““You cannot expect black women to be perfect. We need to be allowed to stumble. We need grace. We are all sinners,” she said.
“We need your prayers, We need to be allowed to stumble. We need grace. With that type of support, we will move mountains and do Jesus’s will — stumbling all of the way!”