Georgia Judge Dismisses Trump Election Interference Case

A Georgia Superior Court Judge dismissed the election interference case against former President Donald Trump and his allies on Wednesday, ending a legal battle that began over two years ago.
In a one-page order, Judge Scott McAfee ruled to dismiss the racketeering case first brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in 2023. Willis had been removed from prosecuting Trump and 14 allies for attempting to interfere in the 2020 election in Georgia, following an “appearance of impropriety” created by a romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she chose to lead the case.
McAfee agreed to terminate the probe after Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, filed a petition stating the alleged criminal conduct was more of a federal than state case. The case could not proceed while Trump was president, but 14 other defendants still faced charges, including former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead attorney in Georgia, welcomed the case’s dismissal: “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.”
After the Georgia Supreme Court declined to hear Willis’ appeal of her disqualification, it fell to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council to find a new prosecutor. Skandalakis said last month he reached out to several prosecutors who all declined to take on the case, so he appointed himself rather than allow the case to be dismissed right away.
Willis had recently delivered the case file — 101 boxes and an eight-terabyte hard drive — and he hadn’t had a chance to review everything yet, Skandalakis said. Citing the public’s “legitimate interest in the outcome of this case,” he wanted to assess the evidence and decide on the appropriate next steps.
Skandalakis, who has led the small, nonpartisan council since 2018, said he would get no extra pay for the case but that Fulton County would reimburse expenses. He previously spent about 25 years as the elected Republican district attorney for the Coweta Judicial Circuit, southwest of Atlanta.
Willis announced the sprawling indictment against Trump and 18 others in August 2023, using the state’s anti-racketeering law to allege a wide-ranging conspiracy to illegally overturn Trump’s narrow loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia. Defense attorneys sought Willis’ removal after one revealed in January 2024 that she had a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to lead the case. The defense alleged a conflict of interest and said Willis profited from the case when Wade used his earnings to pay for vacations the pair took.
During an extraordinary hearing the following month, Willis and Wade testified about the intimate details of their relationship. They said the romance didn’t begin until after Wade was hired and that they split the costs for vacations and other outings. The judge rebuked Willis for a “tremendous lapse in judgment” but found no disqualifying conflict of interest, ruling she could stay on the case if Wade resigned, which he did hours later.
Defense attorneys appealed, and the Georgia Court of Appeals removed Willis from the case in December 2024, citing an “appearance of impropriety.” The state Supreme Court declined to hear Willis’ appeal.