A brand new prosecutor has been chosen to take over the Fulton County, Georgia, election interference case towards President Donald Trump and others after District Legal professional Fani Willis’ disqualification.
In an announcement on Friday, the director of the company tasked with finding the replacement stated he had chosen somebody new: himself.
Pete Skandalakis, the manager director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, stated he selected himself to take over the case after he was “unable” to seek out another person to just accept the job.
“A number of prosecutors had been contacted and, whereas all had been respectful {and professional}, every declined the appointment,” he stated in an announcement. “The choice to imagine accountability for this matter was reached solely after cautious and deliberate consideration.”
Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty in August 2023 to all expenses in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election within the state of Georgia.
The fees, which had been introduced following Trump’s Jan. 2, 2021, telephone name wherein he requested Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the votes wanted to win the state, allege that the defendants solicited state leaders all through the nation, harassed and misled a Georgia election employee, and pushed phony claims that the election was stolen, all in an effort for Trump to stay in energy regardless of his election loss.
The choice of a brand new prosecutor fell to the attorneys’ council after the Georgia Supreme Courtroom in September declined to take up Willis’ attraction of her removing from the case over her relationship with one of many prosecutors on the case.
President Donald Trump speaks throughout a gathering with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban within the Cupboard Room of the White Home, Nov. 7, 2025, in Washington.
Evan Vucci/AP
Skandalakis was going through a Nov. 14 deadline to nominate somebody new or the case would face dismissal, based on an order from Fulton County Decide Scott McAfee. Skandalakis stated he didn’t imagine McAfee dismissing the case due to the missed deadline could be “the correct plan of action.”
Skandalakis wrote in his assertion that he had “not had adequate time” to finish a evaluate the case file, saying he obtained 101 containers of paperwork from the DA’s workplace in late October, and an 8-terabyte laborious drive of the case file simply final week. He stated that by appointing himself to the case he can “full a complete evaluate and make an knowledgeable resolution relating to how greatest to proceed” with the case, whose future continues to be up the air.
“My solely goal is to make sure that this case is dealt with correctly, pretty, and with full transparency discharging my duties with out concern, favor, or affection,” Skandalakis stated.
Trump this week issued a sweeping pardon to all defendants within the Georgia election case and all different circumstances involving alleged 2020 “faux elector” plots, though the act was largely symbolic as Trump doesn’t have the power to pardon state expenses.
