New prosecutor drops charges against Trump in Georgia election fraud case
Pete Skandalakis took over from Fani Willis, who was removed over a romantic relationship she had with the special prosecutor she hired
A judge on Wednesday dismissed the Georgia election interference case against US President Donald Trump and others after the prosecutor who recently took over the case said he would not pursue the charges.
Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, took over the case last month from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who was removed 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 a one-paragraph order dismissing the case in its entirety.
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 to imperil 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 long-standing Justice Department policy against the indictment of a sitting president.