State lawmakers grill former special prosecutor Nathan Wade over Georgia Trump election case

ATLANTA (AP) — State senators on Friday grilled the former special prosecutor who led the Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump about communications his team had with federal investigators. But their efforts were largely frustrated by his repeated assertions that he couldn't remember details.

Nathan Wade appeared before a subcommittee of the Special Committee on Investigations, which was created by the Republican-dominated state Senate in January 2024 to examine various allegations of misconduct against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, an elected Democrat, with regard to her prosecution of Trump.

While the committee has met multiple times to hear from witnesses, including a combative appearance by Willis in December, it has unearthed little that wasn’t already known. Republicans expanded the committee’s mission to also look into Democrat Stacey Abrams, but the committee has thus far done nothing publicly with her.

Willis obtained an indictment against Trump and 18 others in August 2023. Using Georgia’s anti-racketeering law, she alleged that they had participated in a wide-ranging conspiracy to illegally overturn Trump’s narrow loss in Georgia. Four people pleaded guilty in the months that followed after reaching deals with prosecutors.

The resolution creating the committee focused on Wade's hiring as a special prosecutor, saying a romantic relationship between him and Willis amounted to a “clear conflict of interest and a fraud upon the taxpayers” of the county and state. An appeals court in December 2024 removed Willis from the case, finding the relationship created “an appearance of impropriety,” and a new prosecutor dismissed it last November.

While the senators did ask Wade about his hiring — including the timing and how he came to be chosen — there was no mention of his romance with Willis. An opening statement Wade read at the start of the hearing indicated that there had been an agreement beforehand that no personal relationship would be discussed.

Mostly, though, Sen. Greg Dolezal asked Wade about his invoices, particularly several billing entries that seemed to indicate contact with the U.S. House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and meetings with U.S. Department of Justice officials. But Wade repeatedly said he could not recall when trips or calls happened, who he met or spoke with, who else from his team had participated or what was discussed.

Wade also pushed back, saying there seems to be a big focus on who the team was talking to, but he asserted that the investigative work was done by the team Willis assembled.

“She led us, I led the team and we did the work," he said. “We didn't get assistance, coordination, however you want to characterize it. No one held her hand and guided her through the process. This is her work.”

Wade also defended the integrity of the case against Trump and others.

“The investigation was not politically motivated or influenced,” he said. “Rather, it was an independent investigation based on facts, interviews, evidence and the rule of law.”

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Dolezal conceded that he did not get everything he wanted. “Look, I wish Mr. Wade had a better memory,” he said, adding that he appreciated Wade appearing and answering questions “to the best of his recollection.”

But Dolezal said he was glad to have established that Wade and his team met with someone connected with the Jan. 6 investigation and also that they were in touch with Department of Justice officials. He said it raises questions about how much coordination existed in an attempt to “get Trump.”

“That notion that it was part of some big conspiracy is absolute fiction,” said Andrew Evans, a lawyer for Wade. He accused the Republican senators of trying to use the committee to shift the focus from real issues that are unfavorable to them as midterm elections approach.

Including Dolezal, who is running for lieutenant governor, four of the five Republicans on the committee are running for statewide office in 2026. Bill Cowsert is running for attorney general, while Sens. Blake Tillery and Steve Gooch are also each seeking the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Another Republican who had been on the committee, John Kennedy, resigned to pursue his own lieutenant governor bid. Only Dolezal and Cowsert were present for Friday's subcommittee meeting.

The subcommittee also heard testimony Friday from Fulton County Deputy District Attorney Jeff DiSantis, who handles media relations for Willis' office. He was asked about Wade's hiring, which he said he wasn't aware of until it had been decided, and about the district attorney's office's use of a media monitoring service.

Jeff DiSantis, aide to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, testifies in front of the Senate Special Committee on Investigations Subcommittee at the Capitol in Atlanta, Friday, March 13, 2026. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Former Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade is sworn in for his testimony at a Senate Special Committee on Investigations Subcommittee hearing at the Capitol in Atlanta, Friday, March 13, 2026. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

State Sen. Greg Dolezal, who is running for lieutenant governor, questions former Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade at a Senate Special Committee on Investigations Subcommittee hearing at the Capitol in Atlanta, Friday, March 13, 2026. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Former Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade testifies at a Senate Special Committee on Investigations Subcommittee hearing at the Capitol in Atlanta, Friday, March 13, 2026. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — All six crew members of a KC-135 refueling aircraft that crashed while supporting operations against Iran are dead, the U.S. military said Friday.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said the crash in western Iraq on Thursday followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace" and that the other plane landed safely.

The crash brings the U.S. death toll in Operation Epic Fury to at least 13 service members, with the seven others killed in combat. About 140 U.S. service members have been injured, including eight severely, the Pentagon said earlier this week.

The KC-135 has been in service for more than 60 years and has been involved in several fatal accidents, most recently in 2013. Adding to concerns about their reliability, the aircraft don't always carry parachutes.

Here’s what is known so far about the tanker, which is the fourth U.S. military aircraft publicly acknowledged to have crashed since the war against Iran began on Feb. 28:

U.S. Central Command said the circumstances of the crash are under investigation but that the loss of the aircraft was “not due to hostile or friendly fire.”

A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the developing situation, said the other plane involved was also a KC-135. Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., wrote on X that the other plane landed safely in Israel.

Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon on Friday morning that the crash occurred “over friendly territory in western Iraq, while the crew was on a combat mission" and reiterated that hostile or friendly fire was not the cause.

Speaking at the same news conference, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the crew heroes.

“War is hell. War is chaos,” Hegseth said. “And as we saw yesterday with the tragic crash of our KC-135 tanker, bad things can happen. American heroes, all of them.”

Hegseth and Caine spoke to reporters before the deaths of the six crew member had been made public.

Yang Uk, a security expert at South Korea’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said it would be rare for a refueling tanker to be downed by enemy fire because such operations are usually conducted in the rear of combat zones.

Last week, three U.S. F-15E fighter jets were mistakenly downed by friendly Kuwaiti fire. All six crew members ejected safely.

The KC-135 Stratotanker is a U.S. Air Force aircraft used to refuel other planes in midair, allowing them to travel longer distances and maintain operations longer without landing. The plane is also used to transport wounded personnel during medical evacuations or conduct surveillance missions, according to military experts.

“The last of these planes were produced in the 1960s,” Yang said.

Based on the same design as the Boeing 707 passenger plane, the KC-135 is set to be gradually phased out as more of the next-generation KC-46A Pegasus tankers enter service.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the Air Force last year had 376 KC-135s, including 151 on active duty, 163 in the Air National Guard and 62 in the Air Force Reserve.

A basic KC-135 crew consists of three people: a pilot, co-pilot and boom operator. Nurses and medical technicians are added in aeromedical evacuation missions.

Refueling typically happens at the back of the plane, where the boom operator is located. A fuel boom is lowered to connect with fighters, bombers or other aircraft. On many of the planes, the boom operator works lying face down while looking out of a window on the underside of the plane.

Some KC-135s can also refuel planes from pods on their wings. The tankers have room to carry cargo or passengers if needed.

Refueling tankers could play an increasingly important role if the Iran war drags on, as U.S. aircraft may need to fly longer missions to pursue Iranian forces retreating deeper into the country, said Yang.

KC-135s have been involved in several fatal accidents. The most recent occurred on May 3, 2013, when one crashed after takeoff south of Chaldovar, Kyrgyzstan, while supporting the war in Afghanistan.

In that crash, the crew experienced problems with the plane’s rudder, according to a U.S. Air Force investigation. While the crew struggled to stabilize the plane, the tail section broke away and the plane exploded midair, killing all three onboard.

The most serious mid-air collision involving the plane happened in 1966, when a B-52 bomber carrying nuclear bombs struck a tanker near Palomares, Spain.

The accident caused the tanker to crash, killing four onboard. The disaster led to an extensive decontamination effort to clean up nuclear material dispersed when conventional explosives in the hydrogen bombs detonated after hitting the ground.

The plane has a good safety record overall, is well-maintained and has been updated often with new equipment, said Alan Diehl, a former investigator for the Air Force Safety Center who examined mishaps that involved KC-135s.

But Diehl said an important question is whether this KC-135 was carrying any parachutes. The one that crashed in Kyrgyzstan was not, according to the investigation.

Diehl said the reasoning for not always requiring parachutes, at least in the 1980s and 1990s, included the expense of maintaining them and training to use them. He said K-135s are designed with an escape hatch on the flight deck and a spoiler to help airmen jump clear of the fuselage.

A 2008 news release from an air refueling unit said the Air Force was pulling parachutes from KC-135s, noting that it was statistically safer to stay with the aircraft, "especially when flying over enemy territory.”

“Removing parachutes from military aircraft may sound peculiar, but KC-135s are not like other aircraft,” the news release stated. “They seldom have mishaps, and the likelihood a KC-135 crew member would ever need to use a parachute is extremely low.”

Diehl stressed that it's unclear whether parachutes would have helped the crew over Iraq. But he said the second plane landing safety suggests the collision may not have been catastrophic.

When asked if the plane that crashed had parachutes, the military would say only that the cause of the incident was still under investigation.

As for why the KC-135 that crashed had six people on board, Diehl said some could have been back-up crew, given that the aircraft can stay in the air for many hours.

Kim Tong-Hyung reported from Seoul, South Korea. Associated Press writer Adam Schreck in Bangkok contributed to this report.

FILE - A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker refueling tanker aircraft takes off from the Kadena Air Base airfield in Kadena town, west of Okinawa, southern Japan, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae, File)

FILE - A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft performs a flyover during the national anthem before an NCAA college football game between Central Florida and Georgia Tech, Sept. 24, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)