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Former Donald Trump prosecutor Nathan Wade admitted to lawmakers last week that he had to take a class on racketeering law before he signed on to lead the Georgia election fraud case against the former president.
Wade — who was forced off the case because of an affair with his boss, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis — said under questioning from the House Judiciary Committee Oct. 15 that he’d never worked in an office for a district attorney before and he’d never worked on a racketeering case, according to a transcript made public Monday.
“I went to . . . what I would call ‘RICO school’ to learn about what it is, what it means, and how it works,” Wade said during the deposition. “It’s a very complicated legal concept, but the dubbed ‘Godfather of RICO,’ the gentleman who wrote the book … spent hours and hours teaching me RICO, if you will.”
“He was teaching a RICO course and I went to the course,” Wade explained further
Willis, 52, has been accused by Trump and his co-defendants of misconduct in appointing Wade to the case despite both his lack of experience and the conflict of interest caused by their romance.
The two lawyers claimed they didn’t start dating until after Willis appointed Wade to the lucrative and high-profile post. But the judge overseeing the criminal case against the Republican presidential nominee said Willis could only remain on the case if Wade stepped down — which he did in March.
Wade also dodged answering many questions last week by claiming he didn’t remember basic details about his work on the case.
At least 58 times during his testimony, Wade said he could not “recall” or didn’t “know” key details of documented interactions he had with Biden White House officials and members of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
The special prosecutor billed Willis his $250-per-hour fee for a meeting with a member of the White House counsel’s office in May 2022, per an invoice obtained by the Judiciary panel.
“[I]f there was a conference with White House counsel, it would have occurred on or before May 23rd, 2022?” Wade was asked at one point, to which he replied: “Yes.”
“Do you remember who your contact was at the White House counsel’s office?” a Judiciary Committee staffer asked.
“I do not,” Wade replied.
“Do you remember who attended this conference with White House counsel?” the staffer quizzed.
“I don’t recall,” Wade said.
“Is it safe to assume, since you billed for the conference with White House counsel, that you attended this conference with White House counsel?” the staff member also asked.
“Yes,” Wade confirmed.
In November 2022, Wade also had an “interview” with someone from the White House, though it’s unclear whether that meeting or the one from May were in-person.
Wade claims he never visited the executive mansion in his capacity as a special prosecutor — but acknowledged that some witness interviews for the case were conducted in Washington, DC, without divulging further details.
Wade also testified that he never had conversations with members of the Biden Justice Department — including special counsel Jack Smith, who has led both of Trump’s federal indictments for trying to overturn the 2020 election and mishandling classified documents.
Nor did he discuss talks with the House select committee in April 2022 that billed a hefty $6,000 for 24 hours of total work.
Asked whether he held a Zoom conference with Trump prosecutors in other jurisdictions, Wade also demurred.
“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,” Wade said in his opening statement.
“To your knowledge, did District Attorney Willis ever meet or communicate with individuals associated with the Biden White House?” a Judiciary staff member queried toward the end of the deposition.
“I have no clue what she did,” Wade said.
Wade’s lawyers didn’t immediately return requests for comment Monday.