Fulton County prosecutor quits after judge’s ruling

As we have been expecting all afternoon since Judge Scott McAfee issued his ruling regarding district Attorney finding Willis and her ability to stay on the case, prosecuting Donald Trump and his co-defendants for trying to overturn the 2020 election. We've just learned that Nathan Wade, the lead prosecutor in that case, has stepped down after this scathing ruling by Judge McAfee. And we've obtained a copy of the letter that Wade wrote to District Attorney Fani Willis, sending his resignation th

e very first sentence, quote, The furtherance of the rule of law and democracy is and has always been the North star of our combined efforts in this prosecution. Clearly here, Wade taking the step of resigning, in part because he had no other choice. We have a team of reporters and analysts looking at this story now. We want to go to CNN's Nick Valencia is live for us in Fulton County. Nick, the letter here essentially outlining that he's proud of the work that he's done for finding Willis, but

that it's clear, according to Judge McAfee, that he needs to step away. Well, Boris, it's official. Nathan Wade is out as the special prosecutor in the criminal case involving the former president and some of his closest allies. I'm looking here at that resignation letter from the Wade Campbell law firm addressed to the Honorable Fani Willis. You read part of that. And I'm going to read a little bit more here. It says, Although the court found that the defendants failed to meet their burden of p

roving that the DA acquired an actual conflict of interest, I'm offering my resignation in the interest of democracy and dedication to the American public and to move this case forward as quickly as possible. It is a very short resignation letter, but it does add at the end of it that he wishes the funding of the district attorney's office success and safety through this process. It's something, as you mentioned, that we had been anticipating for, you know, all day really since we got this rulin

g. But now, Boris, it is official. That's right. And let's just be clear about what this order had said right after the evidentiary hearing. We heard from the the judge writing in a couple dozen pages here. The court therefore, concludes that the prosecution of this case cannot proceed until the state selects one of two options. One seemed very clear it wasn't going to happen. The district attorney may choose to step aside, along with the whole of her office, and refer the prosecution to the pro

secuting attorney's counsel for reassignment, or alternatively, Sadie Wade can withdraw. Let's bring in Paula Reid to talk a little bit more about this. We were expecting this. It was really a matter of when. It was a matter of when. And this is a pretty classy letter, right? He tries to bring it back to the idea that the most important thing here is the rule of law and democracy reminds people that the nature of this case are allegations that people tried to undermine the outcome of the 2020 el

ection. These are grave allegations and in a pretty tactful way. He also points out the fact that the judge did not find an actual conflict here. They did not find actual corruption or that funny. Finding Willis or Nathan Wade engaged in some sort of scheme to financially benefit off of this investigation. He says, quote, The defendants failed to meet their burden of proving that the district attorney acquired an actual conflict of interest. So this is a pretty well done letter given all of the

circumstances. It brings it back to the facts and the law, because at the heart of this is a criminal case that is mostly intact. They just had six counts dismissed, but we knew this had to happen. And this is a pretty classy way to go given everything that's happened over the past few months. And to your point, he redirects the attention away from the question of conflict of interest, which has been settled away from the controversy surrounding the romantic relationship and focuses on the quest

ion of Donald Trump and his allies allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election. He says that he's offering his resignation in the interest of democracy and dedication to the American people. We want to go to Norm Eisen, who is standing by. Norm, your reaction to the news that this is now officials that Nathan Wade has stepped aside in the Fulton County prosecution because he's doing the right thing here. This relationship was never smart. We've discussed from the start that likely was not a l

egal or evidentiary basis for disqualification, but that Wade had to go. That's been clear for many weeks now. He's done it. I do think it speaks to his commitment. There have been so many false things said about him that he was not a highly qualified lawyer coming to this case. That's been proven false, that he didn't do a good job on the case. That's not true either. He defeated with the team. He led some of the best litigators in the country in a series of pretrial skirmishes. He got four gui

lty pleas. But once this controversy emerged, he had to go. It's the right thing to do. It's a strong and good order by the judge. I'm glad to see Wade and the DA's office acting fast so we can return to getting this trial scheduled, which is what a majority of the American people would like to see happen. Norm, stay with us as we head back to Atlanta and Nick Valencia, where you, Nick, are tracking a new development. What can you share with us? Well, look, Wade was an instrumental part of this

case. He was with Bonnie Willis for 865 days to be exact, and part of the team that secured 19 indictments, including against the former president and also for guilty pleas. And now we have our hands on the response from Finally Willis to Nathan Wade's resignation letter, and she highlights some of those accomplishments by her leader, former lead prosecutor. I want to read part of this letter here now. It says, quote, I will always remember and will remind everyone that you were brave enough to

step forward and take on the investigation and prosecution of the allegations that the defendants in this case engage in a conspiracy to overturn Georgia's 2020 presidential election. Funny, Willis goes on to say, others who were considered were understandably concerned for the safety of themselves and their families that would arise from their acceptance of your role. You were the one who had the courage to accept the role, even though you did not seek it. Just very quickly, I think this other

paragraph that follows up is also important. She says, You are an outstanding advocate in the 865 days you served on this case, you completed a thorough investigation that required the use of a special purpose grand jury to compel the testimony of witnesses inside and outside of Georgia, including litigating in eight states, the District of Columbia and the United States Supreme Court to obtain critical testimony. So a very complimentary letter back by Phonte Willis to this breaking news that we

have here that Nathan Wade, as we expected, is out as a lead prosecutor in this case. Brianna. A glowing review of Nathan Wade's work on the case. Nick, please stand by. We also have Jen Rogers standing by. And Jen, Norm alluded to the idea of how this case now moves forward. So Nathan Wade is tendered, his resignation. What do you think comes next? Well, next, they'll continue with the process of trying to get a trial date set and moving towards that trial date. You know, they've been engulfed

in this controversy for weeks now, and that's kind of put everything else on the back burner. But finding Willis and her team, we're looking for initially an August trial date. I don't think there's any way that's going to happen, but they're now going to shift their attention to trying to get Judge McAfee back in the mode of scheduling them a trial date so that they can move towards a date certain. And of course, to the extent that Nathan Wade was going to be involved in those preparations for

trial, they'll have to replace him in order to move forward. In that vein, once they get a trial date. Yeah, and she has certainly been admonished in this legal win for her. To be clear, she will remain on this case. But some blistering comments from the judge. Do you think that's going to change in how she proceeds here, maybe in style or tone? Well, I do hope that she takes to heart some of what the judge said. You know, he criticized her for the unprofessional nature of her testimony. He sai

d that her judgment was poor in this whole thing. So, you know, I do hope that she takes those words to heart. There also was some sharp criticism of the church that she gave in this case, including playing the race card, suggesting the defendants were playing the race card. So I do hope she carefully reads and absorbs the words of Judge McAfee, who seems to me to have been very reasonable in this ruling, and that she does have that governance going forward. I mean, this particular controversy i

s behind her. But the judge even suggested that defendants should fight. Looks like we have a technical issue, but I will finish the thought for her with Paula Reed. It seems like Judge McAfee set the table for a potential gag order against District Attorney Willis. Yeah, and that's pretty shocking because usually prosecutors don't make statements about cases that they're working on. You know, they're not sparring with defense counsel on the witness stand. I mean, the idea that you would have a

prosecutor under a gag order, that's pretty extraordinary. But it also speaks to how the judge views her conduct in his opinion, he called it, quote, unprofessional. And look, these are pretty classy letters, responses. Trying to bring it back to the facts of the case. But another fact is that these two prosecutors chose to have a romantic relationship while they were overseeing the most high profile state level criminal investigation in the land. As the judge said, this was bad judgment. And in

an effort to suss out whether this was an actual conflict or an appearance of conflict. The judge even called into question their credibility. This is such a forced error that now casts, as the judge described, a cloud over this case. So the way they've handled today, the judge's order has been has been really impressive with their conduct over the past year or so, has really put this case not in the greatest of places and still an open question as to whether they even go before the election, b

ecause all of this prompted a delay.