ATLANTA (AP) – The Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump and others has been dismissed by the newly appointed prosecutor, Pete Skandalakis. In a court filing on Wednesday, Skandalakis announced his decision not to pursue the case further. This development follows the removal of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who faced accusations of an 'appearance of impropriety' due to a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor assigned to the case.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee subsequently issued a one-paragraph order dismissing the case entirely. While it was unlikely that Trump could have faced legal action while in office, other defendants, including former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and ex-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, still have charges pending against them.
In response to the dismissal, Trump’s lead attorney in Georgia, Steve Sadow, praised the ruling, declaring, 'The political persecution of President Trump by disqualified DA Fani Willis is finally over.' Sadow asserted that the case should never have been brought against Trump.
Skandalakis, who has overseen the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council since 2018 and served as the elected district attorney before, mentioned that he had yet to review the extensive evidence in the case, which consists of 101 boxes and an eight-terabyte hard drive. He expressed the need to assess the evidence given the public's interest in the proceedings.
The case originated from an indictment against Trump and 18 others in August 2023, alleging conspiracies to overturn the election results in Georgia utilizing state anti-racketeering laws. In the ongoing legal battles surrounding the case, defense attorneys argued that Willis’s romantic involvement with Wade created a bias and profited from the case, leading to her eventual disqualification by the Georgia Court of Appeals.
The dismissal of this case significantly impacts the defendants, but questions about the integrity of the prosecution and the nature of these legal proceedings remain at the forefront of public discourse.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee subsequently issued a one-paragraph order dismissing the case entirely. While it was unlikely that Trump could have faced legal action while in office, other defendants, including former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and ex-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, still have charges pending against them.
In response to the dismissal, Trump’s lead attorney in Georgia, Steve Sadow, praised the ruling, declaring, 'The political persecution of President Trump by disqualified DA Fani Willis is finally over.' Sadow asserted that the case should never have been brought against Trump.
Skandalakis, who has overseen the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council since 2018 and served as the elected district attorney before, mentioned that he had yet to review the extensive evidence in the case, which consists of 101 boxes and an eight-terabyte hard drive. He expressed the need to assess the evidence given the public's interest in the proceedings.
The case originated from an indictment against Trump and 18 others in August 2023, alleging conspiracies to overturn the election results in Georgia utilizing state anti-racketeering laws. In the ongoing legal battles surrounding the case, defense attorneys argued that Willis’s romantic involvement with Wade created a bias and profited from the case, leading to her eventual disqualification by the Georgia Court of Appeals.
The dismissal of this case significantly impacts the defendants, but questions about the integrity of the prosecution and the nature of these legal proceedings remain at the forefront of public discourse.
