Georgia prosecutor drops state election interference case against Trump

A Georgia prosecutor on Wednesday dropped the state case against President Donald Trump stemming from his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis indicted Trump in August 2023, a few years after he told Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in a phone call to “find” the votes so he could win the state in the 2020 presidential election.

The charges against Trump and 18 co-defendants included violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, soliciting a public officer to violate their oath and filing false documents. Trump and 14 co-defendants pleaded not guilty. Four co-defendants entered into plea agreements.

Peter Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council of Georgia, took over the case earlier this month.

“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 a memo issued Wednesday. “The role of a prosecutor is not to satisfy public opinion or achieve universal approval; such a goal is both unattainable and irrelevant to the proper exercise of prosecutorial discretion. My assessment of this case has been guided solely by the evidence, the law, and the principles of justice.”