A Georgia judge on Monday put off his decision about whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis must testify in the divorce case of an alleged lover.
Cobb County Superior Court Judge Henry Thompson did rule that the divorce case involving Nathan Wade and his estranged wife, Joycelyn Wade, would be unsealed and made public, ABC News reported.
Nathan Wade is the special prosecutor who has helped lead Willis' prosecution of former President Donald Trump for alleged election interference.
Willis, who has been accused of a clandestine relationship with Nathan Wade, is seeking to quash a subpoena she received from Joycelyn Wade, in order to avoid her deposition in the case.
Thompson put off a final decision on whether Willis will have to sit for questioning in the divorce case, but delayed her deposition that had been scheduled for Tuesday. He said he can't rule on whether Willis should have to sit for a deposition in the divorce case until after Wade himself is questioned later this month.
The district attorney claimed in a court filing that being deposed in the case would be "outside the scope of discovery" in the divorce matter and that it amounts to "attempt to harass and damage her professional reputation."
"The sought after deposition of District Attorney Willis is not relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action and should not be permitted," the filing from Willis' attorney said, ABC News reported.
Willis has defended her hiring of Wade, who has little prosecutorial experience, and has not directly denied a romantic relationship. Willis has accused Wade’s estranged wife of trying to obstruct her criminal election interference case against Trump and others by seeking to question her in the couple’s divorce proceedings.
Attorney Ashleigh Merchant, representing defendant Mike Roman, argued in favor of making the records public, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Roman, a former campaign official for Trump, made the allegations about Willis and Wade in a court filing earlier this month.
Merchant had indicated the divorce records contain evidence about the prosecutors' alleged personal relationship.
The New York Post reported Friday that the attorney general had asserted during an April 2020 interview on "The Patricia Crayton Show" that she would refrain from dating her subordinates.
Papers filed in the Trump election interference case alleged Wade used Fulton County funds his law firm received to pay for vacations he took with Willis, according to the Journal-Constitution.
The newspaper also reported that county records reveal Wade has been paid about $654,000 in legal fees since January 2022. Willis' office authorizes his payments.
On Friday, an attorney for Joycelyn Wade produced some of Nathan Wade's credit card statements that showed he purchased airline tickets for himself and Willis for trips to San Francisco, Miami, and Aruba in 2022 and 2023.
The affair allegations have roiled the case, which charges Trump and 18 allies of working to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. Trump and others have seized on the allegations to attack the case and Wade's qualifications as a prosecutor.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and called the charges politically motivated.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.