Georgia prosecutor keeps case against Trump alive for now

The head of a Georgia prosecutors board assigned himself Friday to oversee a sprawling racketeering case against President Donald Trump and his allies over their attempts to overturn the 2020 election, keeping alive for now litigation that has long faced trouble.

The board faced a Friday deadline to find a new prosecutor after courts found Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis could not participate in the case she had led. Willis launched her investigation after the leak of a recording of a January 2021 phone call in which Trump urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to “find” enough votes to reverse his 2020 loss in the state.

Pete Skandalakis, the board’s executive director, said Friday he was taking the case because he had not been able to find another prosecutor to take it. He said he needed time to review the extensive material and did not signal whether he would ultimately pursue the case or abandon it.

“The public has a legitimate interest in the outcome of this case,” he said in a statement. “Accordingly, it is important that someone make an informed and transparent determination about how best to proceed.”

Last year, Skandalakis similarly assigned himself to oversee a related investigation of Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R) after Willis was barred from that case. Months later, Skandalakis announced he would not bring charges against Jones.

Trump defense attorney Steve Sadow said in a statement that he was confident the case against the president would be dismissed. “This politically charged prosecution has to come to an end,” he said.

A grand jury indicted Trump and others with racketeering in August 2023, but the case soon faced setbacks over allegations that Willis had an inappropriate relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. A judge ruled Willis or Wade had to leave the case, and Wade resigned. An appeals court later ruled Willis could not participate in the case, either, and the state Supreme Court in September declined to review that decision.

That left it to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia to find a new prosecutor. Skandalakis said he had talked to several attorneys about the case but they had declined to take it.

Skandalakis did not say how long he would need to review the case but noted he has a large amount of material to review. He said he had received 101 boxes of documents and a hard drive with eight terabytes of data.

The U.S. Supreme Court last year found presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts but not for private conduct. That ruling will likely play a prominent role in the Georgia case if it continues.

The Georgia case is the last of those against Trump. He was found guilty of 34 felonies but faced no penalty in a New York case over falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to adult-film actor Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.

An appeals court dismissed a classified documents case against Trump last year and special counsel Jack Smith dropped federal election-interference charges against Trump after last year’s election.

Cases against Trump allies remain pending in Arizona, Nevada and Wisconsin for their roles in filing paperwork claiming Trump had won the 2020 election even though he had lost. On Thursday, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled in prosecutors’ favor by reinstating charges against Trump electors that a lower court had dismissed.