Nathan Wade's media tour annoys Fani Willis allies in Georgia: 'Unnecessary distraction'
Fulton County Georgia DA Fani Willis' close allies in the state are frustrated by former Trump prosecutor Nathan Wade's recent media appearances, according to a report.
"I think it is an unnecessary distraction and disrespectful to both the process and the DA for Mr. Wade to be giving interviews at this time," former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said, the Atlantic Journal Constitution (AJC) reported.
Wade spoke to several outlets after he stepped down from the prosecution team in their election interference case against Donald Trump. During a recent interview on CNN, Wade's team pulled him aside after he was asked about the timeline of his romantic relationship, disrupting the pre-taped interview.
Former DeKalb County District Attorney J. Tom Morgan told the AJC that the interviews were legally questionable.
"Just because he isn’t part of the case anymore doesn’t mean that rules of professional conduct don’t apply," Morgan said.
Wade has discussed his relationship with Willis, which has been the focus of the election interference case, in several interviews.
"It’s a sideshow, but the sideshow is the show," Morgan added.
Wade first spoke to ABC News' Linsey Davis in May, and said during the interview that workplace romances were "American as apple pie."
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"It happens to everyone. But it happened to the two of us," he said.
Rick Dent, a Democratic strategist, told the AJC that Wade was likely trying to improve his reputation after the attention he and Willis received.
"But the most important thing is the case," Dent said. "This is distracting from the case. He needs to go away and not do any more interviews, ever."
After his team disrupted his interview with CNN's Kaitlan Collins, Wade argued the public understood when his relationship with Willis began.
"I believe that the public has through the testimony and other interviews, the public has a clear snapshot that this is clearly just a distraction. It is not a relevant issue in this case and I think we should be focusing on more of the facts in the indictment of the case," Wade said to CNN.
Wade refused to offer concrete details of when his romance with Willis began. He did admit to its poor timing while insisting his actions played no role in the case being delayed.
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"Do I believe that my actions caused this delay? No, no, no," Wade said. "I do believe, though, that the timing of a personal relationship that I had was probably bad. It was bad timing. But you don't pick and choose when those things happen. They happen organically and you deal with the situation as it comes."
Fox News' Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.