ATLANTA — Cellphone data from Nathan Wade allegedly shows that he visited the Hapeville neighborhood, where current Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis once lived, at least 35 times in 2021, calling into question testimony from the prosecutors that their romantic relationship began after Willis appointed Wade to lead her 2020 election interference case.
The data, filed by attorneys for former President Donald Trump on Friday, is part of the effort by Trump and eight other codefendants to get Willis disqualified from the election racketeering case. The data appears to directly contradict testimony given by Wade and Willis during a two-day hearing last week.
Trump's lawyers — Steve Sadow and Jennifer Little — relied on cellphone data collected from Wade's phone and cell tower transmissions to track his whereabouts. The data was obtained by criminal defense investigator Charles Mittelstadt, who subpoenaed Wade's records from AT&T.
Wade testified last week that he visited the Hapeville condo no more than 10 times before Willis hired him as a special prosecutor on Nov. 1, 2021. However, Mittelstadt alleges that data shows that Wade's cellphone connected to towers near the condo roughly three dozen times from Jan. 1, 2021, to Nov. 30, 2021.
"All it shows is contact... and perhaps communication," former DeKalb County district attorney Robert James said. "It does not establish that there was, in fact, a romantic relationship prior to the time that they said it was a romantic relationship. "
Both Wade and Willis testified that Wade never spent the night at the condo. However, Mittelstadt found two occasions where Wade arrived at the property late in the evening and left early the following morning. One of these dates came before Wade's appointment as special prosecutor.
"People are going to look at this and they're going to draw their own conclusions. They're going to say, well, this is fishy. This... doesn't look right. Why is he over there at 11 p.m.?" James said. "But ultimately, a judge has to make a decision based on law in the court of law and not in the court of public opinion."
Mittelstadt used geolocation data to eliminate routine travel along I-75 or I-85 as well as visits to nearby attractions like the airport. The data shows Wade is stationary when he is connected to cell towers near Willis' condo.
The data also shows that Wade and Willis had more than 2,000 voice calls and nearly 12,000 text messages during the 11-month period, with a "prevalence of calls made in the evening hours," Mittelstadt wrote.
The data could prove a relationship began earlier than Wade and Willis previously admitted in court. Both said the romantic relationship began in early 2022 and ended in the summer of 2023. If defense attorneys can prove the prosecutors lied under oath, it could constitute perjury.
In an affidavit filed with the court, Mittelstadt said he used the online analytics program CellHawk to analyze the records. Mittelstadt wrote that the program is considered the "gold standard" by law enforcement.
"A cornerstone of the CellHawk analytics tool is the inability to manipulate data," he said.
Attempts to contact Jeff DiSantis, a spokesperson for the Fulton County District Attorney's Office and Andrew Evans, who represents Nathan Wade, were not returned before publication.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has yet to rule on motions that seek to disqualify Willis and her office. McAfee set a March 1 hearing for disqualification arguments.
He is also expected to privately review information from Terrence Bradley, a law partner of Wade's who represented him during his Cobb County divorce. Bradley may have information that could further contradict the timeline that Wade and Willis provided. Wade wants to block the review.
If Willis is disqualified, the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia will select a new prosecutor to take over the case. That person may continue to try the case as is or drop it entirely.
The Fulton County DA's Office wants an August trial for Trump and the other 14 remaining co-defendants. A trial date has not been set.