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Georgia judge dismisses final 2020 election interference case against Trump
A Georgia judge has dismissed the sprawling 2020 election interference case against former President Donald Trump, marking the end of the last criminal prosecution tied to his efforts to overturn his loss to Joe Biden. The decision, announced Wednesday, follows a motion by Peter Skandalakis, the prosecutor who took over after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was removed from the case.
Prosecutor cites 'interests of justice' in dismissal
Skandalakis, executive director of the non-partisan Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia, filed the motion to dismiss, stating the decision was made "to serve the interests of justice and promote judicial finality." He emphasized that his choice was not politically motivated, noting his background as a former elected official who had run under both major parties.
"This decision is not guided by a desire to advance an agenda but is based on my beliefs and understanding of the law," Skandalakis wrote in the motion.
"The political persecution of President Trump by disqualified DA Fani Willis is finally over," said Steve Sadow, Trump's lead attorney in the case.
Steve Sadow, Trump's attorney
Background: A contentious investigation
The case stemmed from Trump's attempts to challenge Georgia's 2020 election results, where Biden won by fewer than 12,000 votes out of nearly five million cast. A key moment in the investigation was the release of a January 2021 recording in which Trump urged Georgia's Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes," one more than the margin needed to overturn Biden's victory.
Willis, a Democrat, launched the investigation shortly after the recording surfaced, convening a special grand jury to review the evidence. In August 2023, she filed a 41-count indictment, accusing Trump and 18 co-defendants-including Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows-of racketeering and other state offenses aimed at overturning the election results.
Legal setbacks and dismissal
The case faced significant legal hurdles. In 2024, a judge dismissed several charges, and Willis was later disqualified after a Georgia appeals court ruled that her romantic relationship with a special prosecutor created an "appearance of impropriety." Skandalakis, who took over after Willis' removal, ultimately decided to drop the case, a move that legal experts had anticipated due to its complexity and the resources required to prosecute it.
"It was incredibly unlikely it was going to go forward anyway, because the amount of financial resources and man hours necessary to take on this case didn't seem to be within the scope of what Peter Skandalakis had," said Anthony Michael Kreis, a professor at Georgia State College of Law.
Anthony Michael Kreis, Georgia State College of Law
Kreis noted that while the dismissal was expected, some of Skandalakis' reasoning in the motion was surprising, as it appeared to give Trump and his allies "a lot of benefit of the doubt" despite the evidence presented during the investigation.
Broader legal landscape for Trump
The Georgia case was the last of four criminal prosecutions against Trump since he left the White House in 2021. The dismissal leaves only one conviction-a 2024 New York hush-money case that Trump is currently appealing. Two federal cases-one involving allegations of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election and another accusing him of unlawfully retaining classified documents-were dropped following his return to the White House.
Trump also continues to face several high-profile civil lawsuits. Earlier this month, he asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a $5 million civil judgment in a defamation and sexual abuse case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll. In August, a New York appeals court reduced a $500 million civil fraud penalty against Trump to $175 million, though it upheld the lower court's finding that he and his businesses committed fraud.
Reactions and implications
Trump's legal team celebrated the dismissal as the end of what they called "political persecution." The Georgia case had been seen as particularly significant because, as a state-level prosecution, Trump could not have pardoned himself if convicted. With its dismissal, all criminal cases tied to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election have now been resolved or dropped.
