The prosecutor identified several hurdles, notably the “complexity of the legal issues involved,” in pursuing charges against Trump.
ATLANTA(AP) — On Wednesday, a judge dismissed the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump and others. This decision followed the announcement from the prosecutor overseeing the case, who decided not to move forward with the charges, effectively concluding the last judicial effort to hold Trump accountable for attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
Pete Skandalakis, who serves as the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, assumed responsibility for the case earlier this month. This transition occurred after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was removed due to an “appearance of impropriety” stemming from a personal relationship with the special prosecutor she had appointed to lead the case.
Following Skandalakis’ decision, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee issued an order that dismissed the case entirely.
The investigation launched nearly five years ago when Willis announced her intention to examine whether illegal attempts had influenced Georgia’s 2020 election outcome. This included a phone call on January 2, 2021, in which Trump was heard urging Georgia’s secretary of state to locate enough votes to reverse his loss in this pivotal swing state.
This case was the broadest of four criminal cases initiated against Trump in 2023. Given the extensive resources and manpower necessary to pursue such a complex case, it was not surprising that other prosecutors opted not to take it on following Willis’ departure.
The latest criminal case against Trump to unravel
The abandonment of the Georgia case is the latest reflection of how Trump has emerged largely unscathed from a spate of prosecutions that once threatened his political career and personal liberty.
Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, who had charged Trump with conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election 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 longstanding Justice Department policy against the indictment of a sitting president.
And though Trump was convicted of felony charges in New York in connection with hush money payments during the 2016 election, he was sentenced in January to an unconditional discharge, leaving his conviction intact but sparing him any punishment.
It was unlikely that legal action against Trump could have moved forward while he is president. But 14 other defendants still faced charges, including former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead attorney in Georgia, applauded the case’s dismissal: “The political persecution of President Trump by disqualified DA Fani Willis is finally over. This case should never have been brought. A fair and impartial prosecutor has put an end to this lawfare.”
The Associated Press has reached out to a spokesperson for Willis seeking comment.
“The strongest and most prosecutable case against those seeking to overturn the 2020 Presidential election results and prevent the certification of those votes was the one investigated and indicted 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, D.C., 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 “with an understanding of the grave seriousness with which many citizens view the events discussed in this case. I share their concerns and acknowledge the impact that 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 undertaken by multiple individuals” working to overturn the 2020 presidential election. In his filing, he walked through the different parts of the case to explain why he didn’t pursue them.
Among the obstacles he cited are the “complexity of the legal issues at hand” in prosecuting Trump, saying that even if everything was decided in prosecutors’ favor, “bringing 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 lead defendant and “bears the responsibility for any conspiracy” that could 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 declined to hear Willis’ appeal of her disqualification, it fell to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council to find a new prosecutor. After several other prosecutors declined 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 has run for office as both a Democrat and a Republican.
How the Georgia case fell apart
Willis announced the indictment against Trump and 18 others in August 2023, using the state’s anti-racketeering law to allege 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.
Defense attorneys sought Willis’ removal after one revealed in January 2024 that Willis had a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to lead the case. Willis and Wade disputed allegations that their relationship created a conflict of interest.
The judge rebuked Willis for a “tremendous lapse in judgment” but found no disqualifying conflict of interest, ruling she could stay on 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.
This story has been corrected to show that Skandalakis took over the case in November, not October.
Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed.
