Donald Trump may be president, but that isn’t stopping people from throwing him back in court. But everyone should be concerned.
Because a Trump prosecutor was forced to pull an unprecedented move cracks the case wide open.
Witch Hunt Stumbles as No Prosecutor Wants the Case
In a humiliating blow to the Democrats’ long-running vendetta against President Trump, a Georgia prosecutor reluctantly stepped up to helm the discredited 2020 election interference probe—after every other attorney flat-out refused to touch the tainted mess left by scandal-plagued Fulton County DA Fani Willis.
Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia Executive Director Peter J. Skandalakis announced Friday he’d appoint himself as the reluctant caretaker, citing his “inability to secure another conflict prosecutor.”
“Several prosecutors were contacted and, while all were respectful and professional, each declined the appointment,” said Skandalakis — who had been tasked with finding someone else to take the case.
He did not name those who passed on the offer or explain why they did so, citing “respect for their privacy and professional discretion.”
Skandalakis said he could have let a Friday deadline lapse for resuming the prosecution, risking the case’s dismissal, but “I did not believe that to be the right course of action.
“The public has a legitimate interest in the outcome of this case,” he added. “Accordingly, it is important that someone make an informed and transparent determination about how best to proceed.”
This awkward handoff exposes the case’s toxic legacy, born from Willis’s ethically bankrupt pursuit of Trump and over a dozen loyal allies, now teetering on the edge of oblivion.
Mountains of Evidence, No Takers
The prosecutor revealed that on Oct. 29, the Fulton County District Attorney’s office dumped 101 banker boxes of documents on him, followed on Nov. 6 by an eight-terabyte hard drive crammed with more investigative files.
Skandalakis said he had hoped to go through all of the materials as he sought to install a new prosecutor, but was unable to do so.
Now that he’s submitted his name to take charge of the case, Skandalakis said that he will finish digging through the case files and then “make an informed decision regarding how to best proceed” — suggesting he might drop the prosecution entirely.
“My only objective is to ensure that this case is handled properly, fairly, and with full transparency discharging my duties without fear, favor, or affection,” his statement concluded.
Trial judge Scott McAfee wasted no time after Skandalakis’ self-appointment, scheduling a Dec. 1 hearing and ordering the prosecutor to “be prepared to announce whether it intends to seek a superseding indictment.”
With Trump’s commanding White House return, any trial against him remains a non-starter under constitutional norms, though lesser co-defendants like Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows could face the music—yet even that’s hanging by a thread amid the evident prosecutorial fatigue.
Trump’s Mercy and the End of a Sham Prosecution
Trump defense attorney Steve Sadow said in an emailed statement: “We remain confident that a fair and impartial review will lead to a dismissal of the case against President Trump.”
“This politically charged prosecution has to come to an end,” he added.
The so-called criminal case—alleging Trump and his team unlawfully schemed to uphold election integrity in the Peach State—has languished in farce since Willis’s ouster over her steamy affair with lead prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Willis originally brought the case in August 2023 against Trump and 18 of his associates, using Georgia’s anti-racketeering laws to charge a sprawling conspiracy to reject the will of the state’s voters.
The Georgia Court of Appeals disqualified Willis in December 2024 after finding her romance with Wade gave the “appearance of impropriety.”
The DA had fought to overturn that ruling, but her efforts came to an end in September after the Supreme Court of Georgia declined to take up her appeal.
Willis and Wade’s relationship was made public in January 2024, when defense attorneys moved to dismiss the election case on the grounds of an unlawful conflict of interest.
In response, McAfee held a days-long hearing in which both Wade and Willis were forced to divulge the intimate details of their since-ended relationship.
In March 2024, McAfee ruled that only one of Willis or Wade could remain on the case, calling the affair a “tremendous lapse in judgment.”
Defense attorneys appealed that ruling, leading to the Georgia Court of Appeals booting Willis as well.
On Monday, the Trump administration announced federal pardons for Giuliani, Meadows and other co-defendants in the Georgia case, including ex-DOJ official Jeffrey Clark — though Skandalakis has said that has no bearing on the state charges— a magnanimous gesture underscoring Trump’s focus on unity over endless partisan witch hunts.
