Here’s a not so-shocking update: Georgia just shut the door on its high-profile 2020 election interference case against President Donald Trump and a long list of co-defendants.
The move came after Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, who stepped in after the original prosecutor was benched basically said, this ain’t it. In his own words, “In my professional judgment, the citizens of Georgia are not served by pursuing this case in full for another five to ten years.” Mhmm.. Judge Scott McAfee didn’t waste a second. Minutes after the filing hit the court system, he stamped it official. “This case is hereby dismissed in its entirety,” he wrote, closing the book.
As we previously reported, the charges originally came from former District Attorney Fani Willis, remember, she was the one who brought the heat after that Jan. 2, 2021 phone call where Trump asked Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the votes needed to flip Georgia.
Prosecutors said the effort went far beyond a phone call: pressuring state leaders across the map, harassing a Georgia election worker, and spreading wild claims about stolen votes. Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty back in August 2023 to a massive racketeering case that looked ready to stretch on forever.
A few folks, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro and Scott Hall, tapped out early with plea deals in exchange for testifying, but the whole case started wobbling the moment Willis was disqualified amid accusations involving her relationship with another prosecutor. After that, the state scrambled to find someone willing to pick up the reins. Turns out, nobody wanted the smoke. So Skandalakis shrugged and took it himself.
And then he shut it all down.
Of course, Trump’s camp wasted no time doing victory laps. Attorney Steve Sadow came out swinging, saying, “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.”
Whether you call it closure, chaos, or just another headline in America’s most exhausting political series, one thing is clear: Georgia made sure today would not be a slow news day.