Nathan Wade, a former prosecutor for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, received a subpoena from House Republicans on Thursday, nearly one week after they attempted to serve him with it.
The subpoena, dated Sept. 20 and signed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), ordered Wade to appear for a deposition before Congress on Thursday, according to a copy reviewed by the Washington Examiner.
Wade had been unresponsive to the subpoena for days, which led Jordan to take the unusual step earlier this week of seeking assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service to locate and serve Wade, a committee spokesperson said.
Wade did not respond to the U.S. Marshals Service until Thursday morning, the spokesperson said.
One Republican lawyer familiar with the matter said that despite Wade, a Georgia-based lawyer, confirming receipt of the subpoena the morning the deposition was set to take place in Washington, the committee documented that Wade was a no-show because he did not appear for it. Previously, another Republican lawyer told the Washington Examiner that Wade’s lack of response to the subpoena for several days was “clearly dilatory.”
Wade’s lawyer Andrew Evans did not respond to a request for comment. Wade’s law office has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
Wade’s apparent avoidance of the subpoena until it was too late for him to physically appear in Washington comes after Jordan opened an inquiry this year into Wade’s role in Willis’s prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
Willis hired Wade to lead the prosecution in 2021, but an undisclosed romantic relationship between the pair led Wade to resign from the case in March. Willis is facing the prospect of disqualification from the case over her relationship with Wade, and the Georgia Court of Appeals is expected to rule on the matter next year.
In a letter to Wade accompanying the subpoena, Jordan observed how the Georgia lawyer made nearly $700,000 billing Fulton County for his services while in a relationship with Willis for at least part of the time he worked for her.
Willis has argued that she gained nothing financially from the relationship and that she split costs with Wade when they spent time together.
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Jordan wrote in his letter to Wade that his committee was continuing to investigate “politically motivated prosecutions” and had an interest in whether Wade was paid using taxpayer dollars that included federal grant money. Willis has said her office has always used federal funds appropriately.
It is unclear how Republicans will proceed with Wade’s missed deposition.