Georgia Election Case Against Trump Collapses
A Georgia judge has formally dismissed the high-profile election interference case against President Donald Trump, bringing an end to the last remaining criminal prosecution facing the former president before his return to the White House in January.
Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee granted the motion to dismiss the case on Wednesday after prosecutor Pete Skandalakis argued the matter fell under federal jurisdiction rather than state authority.
Prosecutor Cites Federal Precedent
In a 23-page filing, Skandalakis referenced the federal investigation led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who had withdrawn his own charges following Trump's reelection in late 2024. The prosecutor emphasized that if federal authorities with extensive resources concluded prosecution would be fruitless, the state case should meet the same fate.
"Indeed, if Special Counsel Jack Smith, with all the resources of the federal government at his disposal... concluded that prosecution would be fruitless, then I too find that pursuing the prosecution would be equally unproductive," Skandalakis wrote in his filing.
The prosecutor also noted the practical challenges of prosecuting a sitting president in Georgia and indicated that without Trump as the central figure, the trial would be unworkable for the remaining 14 defendants.
Background of the Georgia Case
The case originated in 2023 when Trump and 18 co-defendants faced racketeering and other charges related to alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia. The indictment detailed multiple attempts to influence election outcomes, including:
- Pressuring state officials to "find" votes to reverse Trump's narrow loss to Joe Biden
- Targeting election workers with pressure campaigns
- Installing false Trump electors
Four of those originally indicted subsequently pleaded guilty to lesser charges. The case faced additional complications when a Georgia appeals court disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in December, citing an "impropriety" stemming from her intimate relationship with the special prosecutor she had hired.
Broader Legal Context
This dismissal represents the final chapter in several criminal prosecutions that had been pending against Trump. While the president has granted pardons to several allies accused of attempting to subvert the 2020 election, those clemency actions only applied to federal crimes, not state offenses like those charged in Georgia.
Among those who received presidential clemency were former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows, both of whom faced charges in the Georgia case. The two federal cases against Trump were previously dropped by Special Counsel Jack Smith after the November 2024 election, following Justice Department policy against indicting or prosecuting a sitting president.
The immediate dismissal by Judge McAfee brings closure to a legal battle that has spanned multiple years and captured national attention since Trump's surrender at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta on August 24, 2023.
