Pete Skandalakis, the new prosecutor in President Donald Trump’s 2020 Georgia election interference case, said he has decided not to pursue the case further.
Skandalakis is the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia and chose to appoint himself to lead the case after others declined.
He recently took over the case after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was removed due to a legal fight about her authority and personal relationship with a co-worker in the case.
The state racketeering charges against Trump and several others were filed in 2023 by Willis, who is a Democrat. The charges followed a lengthy investigation she launched in 2021 after the 2020 presidential election.
Trump was accused of trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia, a critical swing state that went for former President Joe Biden that year.
The case became national news when Trump surrendered to a jail in Atlanta in August 2023. He was forced to take a mug shot, which he later used for merchandise and campaign material after it went viral.
It was derailed when Willis’ relationship with Nathan Wade, a former special prosecutor for Fulton County, was made public.
Skandalakis took over the case recently and determined Wednesday that it had no future. He said that he considered the case’s future, and since Trump won reelection and is in the White House, there wasn’t much room to pursue the case further.
He argued that it would be “illogical and unduly burdensome and costly” for them to continue on with the case, noting that it could stretch another five to 10 years.
While the case against Trump may not have carried on, there are concerns about Skandalakis’ decision to not pursue it for the co-defendants.
Trump was charged alongside 18 other co-defendants on charges using the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a law commonly known as RICO. It’s similar to charges used previously to target members of the mafia.
The co-defendants include former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Steve Sadow, the lead attorney on behalf of Trump, said the “political persecution” is “finally over.”
“This case should never have been brought,” he said. “A fair and impartial prosecutor has put an end to this lawfare.”