Fani Willis bankrolls private attorney for Trump prosecution: 'Certainly unorthodox'
by Ashley Oliver, Justice Department Reporter
September 11, 2023 03:00 AM
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has paid massive sums to private sector attorneys for their services, and a portion of those relate to investigating and prosecuting former President Donald Trump, according to county records.
Nathan Wade, Willis’s lead prosecutor in the case, has raked in more than half a million dollars from the Fulton County District Attorney's Office from January 2022 to August 2023, according to a payment history.
Christopher Campbell, Wade's colleague at Wade & Campbell Firm, has been paid $116,670 from April 2021 to August 2023, the same records show.
Terrence Bradley, a former colleague of Wade's, was paid $74,480 from May 2021 to June 2022, according to the records.
Wade, a defense attorney who can bill by the hour, was hand-picked by Willis roughly two years ago to serve as special prosecutor in the Trump case. Wade is a former Cobb County fill-in municipal court judge who ran for Cobb County Superior Court and was defeated in 2012, 2014, and 2016. Willis chose Wade over career prosecutors who work on salaries, and while the legalities of that have not been questioned at this stage, some, like Phil Holloway, an Atlanta-based attorney for more than two decades, have found the use of Wade to be "unorthodox."
"It’s certainly unorthodox and appears to be a cash cow for any lawyer paid by the hour," Holloway said. "I’ve been practicing criminal law in Georgia for 24 years, and I’ve never seen such an arrangement."
Willis, who began investigating Trump in February 2021, indicted the former president and 18 co-defendants last month on racketeering charges, alleging they had conspired to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.
Georgia Election Indictment
Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade (left), representing the District Attorney's office, talks with Attorney Scott Grubman, who is defending Ken Chesebro, and other attorneys after Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee heard motions from attorneys representing Ken Chesebro and Sidney Powell in Atlanta on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. (Jason Getz/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)
Jason Getz/AP
One of the co-defendants, former Georgia GOP Chairman David Shafer, highlighted in a court filing on Thursday the hefty payments to private prosecutors, asking for Judge Scott McAfee to schedule a hearing "regarding improper contact by special prosecutor's law firm."
Shafer included in the filing an advertisement he had received from Wade's firm soliciting clients who needed help with criminal defense needs, including "impersonating a public officer," a charge leveled against Shafer.
The advertisement, while sent in the form of a standard mailer, presented an awkward scenario where a private attorney was offering defense services to a person 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
Shafer's attorney in the court filing said it also violated an "anti-contact" rule, noting that "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."