A Georgia\u00a0judge dismissed the 2020 election interference case against President Trump and more than a dozen of his allies and supporters Wednesday after the case\u2019s new prosecutor moved\u00a0for\u00a0all charges to be dropped \u2014 saying pursuing the matter would be \u201cunproductive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee threw out the case less than an hour after\u00a0Peter Skandalakis \u2013 who\u00a0appointed himself as prosecutor\u00a0<\/a>after he failed to find anyone else willing to take the job following the ouster of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis \u2013\u00a0filed a motion to dismiss the case against Trump and 14 other co-defendants.<\/p>\n Peter Skandalakis filed a motion to dismiss the Georgia 2020 election interference case against President Trump and more than a dozen allies. Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia<\/p>\n Fulton County Sheriff\u2019s Office on August 24, 2023 shows the booking photo of former US President Donald Trump. Donald Trump surrendered on racketeering charges. FULTON COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cThis case is hereby dismissed in its entirety,\u201d McAfee wrote in a\u00a0one-paragraph\u00a0ruling.<\/p>\n Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys\u2019 Council of Georgia, acknowledged in his 23-page filing that the case \u201cis on life support and the decision [on] what to do with it falls on me and me alone\u201d before concluding that the appropriate authority to bring charges was former special counsel Jack Smith<\/a> \u2014 who dropped his federal version of the Georgia indictment following Trump\u2019s election in 2024, citing longstanding Justice Department policy against indicting a sitting president.<\/p>\n \u201c[I]f Special Counsel Jack Smith, with all the resources of the federal government at his disposal, after reviewing the evidence in this case and considering the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s decision in Trump v. United States, along with the years of litigation such a case would inevitably entail, concluded that prosecution would be fruitless,\u201d Skandalakis wrote, \u201cthen I too find that, despite the available evidence, pursuing the prosecution of all those involved in State of Georgia v. Donald Trump, et al. on essentially federal grounds would be equally unproductive.\u201d<\/p>\n A combination picture shows police booking mugshots of former U.S. President Donald Trump and the 18 people indicted with him. via REUTERS<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s criminal defense lawyer, Steve Sadow, lauded the decision from Skandalakis, whom he called \u201ca fair and impartial prosecutor.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe political persecution of President Trump by disqualified DA Fani Willis is finally over,\u201d Sadow said. \u201cThis case should never have been brought. A fair and impartial prosecutor has put an end to this lawfare.\u201d<\/p>\n Fulton County, GA district attorney Fani Willis. Robin Rayne for NY Post<\/p>\n Earlier this month, Skandalakis announced he was taking over the case because of his \u201cinability to secure another conflict prosecutor\u201d and the fact that a deadline to find someone to handle the high-profile case was fast-approaching, risking dismissal by default.<\/p>\n A grand jury indicted Trump and 18 others on Aug. 14, 2023, on charges including racketeering, conspiracy, false statements and asking a public official to violate their oath of office. Nine days later, the once and future president traveled to Atlanta to be booked and get his mug shot taken<\/a> \u2014 the first chief executive to acheive that dubious distinction.<\/p>\n