Nathan Wade, former special prosecutor for Fulton County, Ga., said he has faced threats every day since the news of his personal relationship with District Attorney Fani Willis became entangled in their prosecution of former President Trump.
Wade joined MSNBC’s Joy Reid on Wednesday, saying he receives death threats, has to “empty my voicemail three to four times a day” and has security with him at work.
“These people were doing things unimaginable at certain points. I had to call my parents to make certain that they didn’t change my name and I didn’t know about it,” he said. “My children couldn’t come visit me because of the danger that they face.”
“But those threats are real,” he continued.
Willis, with whom Wade once had a romantic relationship, brought Wade onto the prosecution of Trump for the former president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.
After the relationship was exposed in the middle of the case, Republicans called for Willis to be dismissed, and the case was stymied while Judge Scott McAfee considered what to do.
McAfee ultimately decided that either Wade or Willis had to step off the case and sharply criticized their conflict of interest. Wade offered his resignation so Willis could continue her prosecution of the former president.
In Wednesday’s interview, the former special prosecutor said he doesn’t think their relationship should have ever been discussed in the courtroom.
Wade said that while he and Willis no longer talk about they case, they remain the “best of friends” and often check up on each other about the threats they receive.
“Being attacked this way, [she is] the only other person on the planet who knows what I’m going through, and I know what she’s going through,” he said.