Legal/Law/Criminal Justice and Reform

Phone Records Appear To Contradict Key Element Of Fani Willis’ Testimony

No featured image available

Special prosecutor Nathan Wade appears to have visited Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ neighborhood at least 35 times in 2021, according to phone data referenced in a Friday court filing.

Former president Donald Trump’s attorney obtained cell phone records including voice and text history, as well as location data, for Wade’s phone, according to a new court filing. An analysis found “a minimum of 35 occasions when Mr. Wade’s phone connected for an extended period to either one of those towers in closest proximity” to Willis’ home address in Hapeville, Georgia, according to the affidavit of a criminal defense investigator who reviewed the records.

The data appears to contradict Willis’ denial that Wade ever spent the night at her place, and calls into question the timeline of when the relationship between Willis and Wade began. Both maintained the relationship began in 2022, but the phone records show Wade visiting Willis’ property multiple times in 2021.

It also appears to contradict Wade’s claim that he did not visit her condo more than 10 times.

Trump co-defendant Michael Roman accused Willis of improperly benefiting from appointing her romantic partner, Wade, through vacations he paid to take her on in a motion to dismiss her from the case in January. Judge Scott McAfee oversaw a hearing last week where defendants sought to prove she financially benefited.

“The data reveals he is stationary and not in transit,” the investigator Charles Mittelstadt said in reference to the data. “A deeper analysis of the data would reveal additional details such as where his travel began or ended.”

The analysis also revealed “over 2000 voice calls and just under 12,000 interactions” exchanged between Willis and Wade during an 11-month period in 2021, which included a “prevalence of calls made in the evening hours.”

Two instances appeared to show overnight visits to Willis’ residence. Willis and Wade both testified during the hearing last week that Wade never spent the night at her condo in Hapeville.

On Sept. 11, 2021, Wade’s phone arrived in Willis’ neighborhood at 10:45 pm and remained until the next day at 3:28 am, when it traveled back to the East Cobb area near his residence and arrived at 4:05 am. He sent Willis a text shortly after, according to the affidavit.

“[O]n November 29, 2021, Mr. Wade’s phone was pinging on the East Cobb towers near his residence and, following a call from Ms. Willis at 11:32 P.M., while the call continued, his phone left the East Cobb area just after midnight and arrived within the geofence located on the Dogwood address at 12:43 A.M on November 30, 2021,” the filing states. “The phone remained there until 4:55 A.M..”

Both Willis and Wade maintain that their relationship did not begin until 2022, after Wade was hired. A long-time friend of Willis testified during the hearing that their relationship began in 2019.

The district attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.