HOOK TRUMP IN GEORGIA!
ATLANTA (AP) — A judge on Wednesday dismissed Georgia’s election interference case against President Donald Trump and others after the prosecutor who took over the case said he would not pursue charges, ending the latest effort to punish the president in court for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Georgia District Attorney’s Council, took over the case earlier this month from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who was ousted over an “appearance of impropriety” created by a romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she chose to lead the case.
After Skandalakis’ filing, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee issued an order dismissing the case in its entirety.
The case began nearly five years ago, when Willis went public with his intention to investigate whether illegal attempts were made to influence the 2020 state election. That included a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call in which Trump was recorded urging Georgia’s secretary of state to help find the votes needed to overturn his loss in the critical swing state.
It was the largest of the four criminal cases brought against Trump in 2023. The resources and manpower required to pursue such a sprawling case did not make it surprising that other prosecutors declined to take it on after Willis’s ouster.
The latest criminal case against Trump for falling apart
The abandonment of the Georgia case is the latest reflection of how Trump has emerged largely unscathed from a series of prosecutions that once threatened his political career and personal freedom.
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Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, who had accused Trump of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results and hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, dropped both cases after Trump won the White House last year. Smith cited the Justice Department’s long-standing policy against impeachment of a sitting president.
And although Trump was convicted of serious crimes in New York in connection with hush money payments during the 2016 election, he was sentenced to unconditional release in January, leaving his sentence intact but sparing him any punishment.
It was unlikely that legal action would have been taken against Trump while he was president. But 14 other defendants still face charges, including former New York mayor and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Steve Sadow, Trump’s top attorney in Georgia, applauded the firing: “The political persecution of President Trump by disqualified District Attorney Fani Willis is finally over. This case should never have been brought. A fair and impartial prosecutor has put an end to this legal war.”
Trump celebrated the news in a lengthy social media post, saying, “LAW and JUSTICE have prevailed in the Great State of Georgia, while Fani Willis’ corrupt Witch Hunt against me and other great American patriots has been DISMISSED in its entirety.”
The News has reached out to a spokesperson for Willis for comment.
“The strongest and most actionable case against those seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and prevent the certification of those votes was the one investigated and charged by Special Counsel Jack Smith,” Skandalakis wrote in his court filing Wednesday.
He added that the criminal conduct alleged in the Georgia indictment “was conceived in Washington, DC, not the State of Georgia. The federal government is the appropriate venue for this prosecution, not the State of Georgia.”
Skandalakis’ review of the case
Skandalakis said he undertook the review of the case “knowing the great seriousness with which many citizens view the facts at issue in this case. I share their concerns and recognize the impact my decision will have.”
He said the indictment “alleges a compelling set of acts” that, if proven beyond a reasonable doubt, “would establish a conspiracy waged by multiple individuals” working to overturn the 2020 presidential election. In his presentation, he went through the different parts of the case to explain why he did not pursue them.
Among the obstacles he cited is the “complexity of the legal issues at hand” in prosecuting Trump, and he said that even if everything were decided in prosecutors’ favor, “getting this case before a jury in 2029, 2030 or even 2031 would be nothing short of a remarkable feat.”
Skandalakis wrote that he considered separating the other remaining defendants and trying them separately. But he noted that Trump is the main defendant and “is responsible for any conspiracy” that can be proven. Holding separate trials for the others would be “illogical and unduly burdensome and costly.”
Why a new prosecutor took over the Georgia case
After the Georgia Supreme Court in September refused to hear Willis’ appeal of his disqualification, it was up to the Prosecutor’s Council to find a new prosecutor. After several other prosecutors refused to take the case, Skandalakis appointed himself.
Skandalakis has led the small, nonpartisan council since 2018 and previously spent about 25 years as the elected district attorney for the Coweta Judicial Circuit, southwest of Atlanta. He noted in Wednesday’s filing that he ran for both Democratic and Republican office.
How the Georgia case fell apart
Willis, an elected Democrat, announced the indictment against Trump and 18 others in August 2023, using the state’s racketeering law to allege a wide-ranging conspiracy to illegally overturn Trump’s narrow loss in Georgia. Four people pleaded guilty in the following months after reaching deals with prosecutors.
Defense attorneys sought Willis’ removal after one revealed in January 2024 that Willis was in a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor he hired to lead the case. Willis and Wade disputed allegations that their relationship created a conflict of interest.
The judge reprimanded Willis for a “tremendous error in judgment” but found no disqualifying conflict of interest and ruled that she could continue the case if Wade resigned, which he did hours later.
Defense attorneys appealed, and the Georgia Court of Appeals removed Willis from the case in December 2024. The state Supreme Court declined to hear Willis’ appeal.
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This story has been corrected to show that Skandalakis took over the case in November, not October.
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News writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed.