Nathan Wade suddenly broke off his interview with CNN Wednesday for a brief meeting with his media consultant. (Watch the video below.)
The bizarre moment unfolded when host Kaitlan Collins asked the prosecutor about his romance with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Word of their entanglement threw a wrench into the Georgia election-interference case against former President Donald Trump and resulted in Wade’s departure.
“What is your current relationship with the district attorney?” Collins asked.
Wade said hey were great friends and speak regularly, but the conversation now revolves around the threats she has faced rather than the case.
Collins then asked when the relationship started. Wade began to question the effort to “arrive at exact dates” and looked at someone off-camera. “Getting signaled here,” he said.
A man described as his media consultant entered the frame along with a crew member who removed the attorney’s microphone. Wade and his adviser retreated to a bookshelf in the room for a huddle with their backs to the camera.
After about 30 seconds, Wade returned.
“Everything OK?” Collins asked.
The anchor kept to her mission and asked for clarification “when the romantic relationship started and ended.”
Wade framed the speculation as a “distraction” and “not a relevant issue in this case.” Collins later asked if the romance jeopardized the case and Wade followed with a roundabout reply.
A Georgia appeals court recently put the brakes on the case against Trump for election interference while it weighs a request by the former president and others to remove Willis.
Willis sparked conflict-of-interest accusations when one of the defendants revealed her personal relationship with Wade, a prosecutor she appointed. Willis has denied their romance had any impact on the proceedings.
