A Georgia judge has dismissed the criminal case against President Donald Trump and several allies over their alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state, after the new prosecutor in charge moved to drop the charges. The decision ends the last major criminal prosecution against Trump related to the 2020 election, following the disqualification of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
The Georgia election interference case, one of the most prominent legal battles stemming from the 2020 presidential election, was officially dismissed on Wednesday.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee issued a brief order granting a motion from Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, who had taken over the prosecution earlier this month. “The case is hereby dismissed in its entirety,” McAfee wrote, according to court documents reported by multiple outlets.
Skandalakis assumed control of the case after Fani Willis was removed from prosecuting it over an “appearance of impropriety” tied to her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. The Georgia Court of Appeals ordered Willis’ disqualification in late 2024, and the state Supreme Court later declined to hear her appeal, according to Associated Press reporting carried by The Washington Post and other outlets.
In his motion to dismiss, Skandalakis argued that the alleged criminal conduct at the heart of the case "was conceived in Washington, D.C., not the State of Georgia," and said the federal government would be the more appropriate venue. NPR reports that he contended there was no realistic prospect of compelling a sitting president to appear in Georgia to stand trial during Trump’s current term, which runs through January 20, 2029, and that continuing the case without Trump would be “illogical and unduly burdensome” for state authorities.
The sprawling case originated from an August 2023 indictment by a Fulton County grand jury, which charged Trump and 18 others — including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows — under Georgia’s anti-racketeering law for an alleged conspiracy to overturn Joe Biden’s narrow victory in the state. The indictment detailed alleged efforts that included organizing slates of alternate electors, pressuring state officials, and accessing election system data. Four defendants ultimately pleaded guilty under agreements with prosecutors, while the remaining defendants, including Trump, had pleaded not guilty.
Skandalakis wrote that, in evaluating whether to go forward, he reviewed extensive case materials, including voluminous files and electronic records, before concluding that further prosecution would be unproductive and strain limited resources. He also pointed to the fact that federal prosecutors had already dropped related election interference and classified documents cases against Trump after he returned to the White House, in line with longstanding Justice Department policy on indicting a sitting president, as reported by NPR and The Washington Post.
Trump celebrated the decision on his social media platform, Truth Social. In a post quoted by the Associated Press and other outlets, he wrote, “LAW and JUSTICE have prevailed in the Great State of Georgia, as the corrupt Fani Willis Witch Hunt against me, and other Great American Patriots, has been DISMISSED in its entirety.” His Georgia attorney, Steve Sadow, likewise said in a statement that “a fair and impartial prosecutor has put an end to this lawfare,” according to court filings and media reports.
Legal scholars noted the broader implications of the dismissal. Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University, told NPR the decision underscored the limits of state-level accountability when a sitting president cannot be compelled to appear for trial and cannot be pardoned for state crimes. He described the case as a missed chance for a fuller public reckoning around the 2020 election and its aftermath.
Skandalakis, who has led the small, nonpartisan Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council since 2018 and previously served roughly 25 years as an elected district attorney, emphasized in his filing that his decision was based on “the evidence, the law, and the principles of justice,” not political pressure. He noted that questioning or challenging election results is not, by itself, illegal and said his office must weigh the strength of the evidence, legal hurdles, and the public interest when deciding whether to proceed.
While the dismissal ends the Georgia racketeering prosecution against Trump and his co-defendants, Skandalakis indicated in his filing that certain allegations involving individual actors could still be examined by local prosecutors in other jurisdictions if they choose to do so. However, he did not announce any specific new cases, and no separate charges were immediately filed on Wednesday.
