Former Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade testified behind closed doors on Capitol Hill Tuesday about Georgia’s election interference investigation into former President Donald Trump and his allies.
Wade was questioned by the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee about his past romantic relationship with Fani Willis and her management of the Fulton County District Attorney’s office.
You can read the full story about his appearance here.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained a copy of the opening statement he delivered to the panel.
Text of Nathan Wade’s full statement:
Good morning, my name is Nathan Wade. I am a licensed attorney in good standing in the state of Georgia. I am here after voluntarily accepting service of a subpoena from the House of Representatives of Congress of the United States of America. I am here of my own volition having paid for my own flight tickets and hotel room in an effort to respond to any legal relevant inquiries. Please note, all arrangements were made per agreement for my voluntary testimony to take place back in July but this Committee changed that date for its convenience.
You are aware, I served as Special Assistant District Attorney in the case of State of Georgia v Donald Trump et al., Indictment number 23-SC-188947 (Fulton Superior Court, GA.). Prior to accepting the appointment as a Special Assistant District Attorney for the Office of the District Attorney of Fulton County, I served as a prosecutor several times during my career. First as an Assistant Solicitor General in Cobb County Georgia, then as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Georgia.
I began my private practice in 2000 where I served as a criminal defense attorney, representing hundreds of individuals in state and federal courts charged with felony and misdemeanor offenses. I have tried many felony cases representing clients in serious matters including but not limited to capital offenses, murder, rape, armed robbery, aggravated assault and drug trafficking. Many of these cases garnered media attention.
I have served as a civil attorney in private practice representing individuals, businesses, and corporations alike, with no attention given to partisan politics. I have previously been retained to represent a Republican Sheriff. I served as legal counsel to the Cobb County Branch of the NAACP.
In 2010, I began serving as a Municipal Court Judge in several cities in the state of Georgia and was proud to have become the first African American to do so in the City of Marietta, Georgia. I was invited to assist in the training of newly appointed Municipal Court Judges and did so with great pleasure. I have received dozens of accolades and State wide recognitions over the course of my legal career.
My team and I investigated the issues in the Election interference case for more than two years. This case was not politically motivated. Rather, it was an independent investigation based upon facts, interviews, evidence, and the rule of law. I had no mandate other than to honestly seek the truth! I was never directed, ordered, asked, coerced, or pressured to bring any charges against anyone. I took my oath as Special Prosecutor with a solemn pride and responsibility. I did not violate that oath and did nothing to compromise the integrity of the Fulton County indictment alleging interference in the 2020 presidential election. No one at the White House, the White House counsel’s office, the Department of Justice, or the January 6th Committee directed, ordered, asked, coerced or pressured me or any member of my investigative team to seek or not to seek an indictment against anyone!
Due to the lack of cooperation from witnesses and government officials, the Fulton County District Attorney requested permission from the Fulton County Superior Court Judges, to impanel a special grand jury to investigate the complaints surrounding the 2020 election. This special purpose grand jury returned an exhaustive report recommending indictments on a host of individuals, many of which were not named in the pending charging document. Following this recommendation, a Fulton County grand jury returned an indictment against all individuals named in 23-SC-188947 respectively. Several defendants moved to disqualify the District Attorney of Fulton County and myself from the prosecution of this case. The trial Court held a hearing during which I testified and was cross examined for hours by defenses lawyers. In March of this year, the motion to disqualify was denied. In its distasteful dicta, the court opined that either I resign or the District Attorney’s office resign from the prosecution of the election interference case, consequently, I voluntarily submitted my resignation immediately. Since that date, I have had minimum contact with the Office of the District Attorney of Fulton County and have had no access to documents left there.
On May 9, 2024 I received a letter from the Committee on the Judiciary requesting that I produce six categories of documents. I voluntarily complied with that request by producing all documents that I possessed. I had nothing responsive to categories of documents relating to notes, memoranda, or communications between The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office and any other agency. This Committee’s stated purpose on requesting those documents- and in seeking my appearance today- is that the Committee is “considering potential legislative reforms establishing clear guidelines outlining the permissible uses of federal grant funds, under 34 U.S.C. sec 10261, et sec., and 12291, et seq., creating penalties for unlawfully misusing federal grant funds under Title 34 of the United States Code, constructing stringent automatic audit requirements for Department grant managers, or modifying eligibility requirements pertaining to grant recipients that misuse federal funds.” The Committee has also” considered legislation broadening the existing statutory right of removal of certain criminal cases form state court to federal court as a remedy against politicized prosecutions by popularly elected state or local prosecutors.”
I am here to cooperate and I welcome all legal and relevant inquiries related to your defined scope. Contrary to any fabricated story that I somehow evaded service of process, I voluntarily reached out to the US Marshall’s office and suggested a meeting place and time immediately upon being made aware, through false, inflammatory media reports, of Congress’s attempts to serve me.
You are aware that I am bound by the Georgia rules of professional conduct/responsibility and must at all times maintain in confidence all information gained in the attorney-client relationship. I have been served with the following letter which will serve as the guardrails directing my responses as it relates to certain topics: {read letter into record}
