Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis, much like New York Attorney General Letitia James, staked her career on her ability to take down Trump.
She was dealt a rather crushing blow when she was removed from the Georgia election interference case she brought against him.
Earlier this month, a new prosecutor was assigned, with the assumption being that the charges against Trump would perhaps be pursued. However, the prosecutor instead asked the court to dismiss the charges, a request that was granted.
Willis was surrounded by controversy from the outset over this case, particularly with regard to a romantic relationship she had with one of the prosecutors she selected to work on the case.
When she was questioned about the case potentially being a waste of time and money, she responded, “That’s incorrect, that they didn’t yield the results. The case against President Trump is ongoing, and it’s in the [Georgia] Supreme Court, so people should kind of have the information to know what they’re talking about.”
Several weeks after she made that statement, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that Willis was disqualified from being able to prosecute the case.
The matter has more or less been in limbo ever since, but that changed rather dramatically over the last few weeks.
In mid-November, Peter J. Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, announced that he would be taking over the case to determine next steps.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee had asked Skandalakis to find a new prosecutor for the case, a task he found to be particuarly challenging due to a lack of interest from colleagues.
At the time, he announced, “The decision to assume responsibility for this matter was reached only after careful and deliberate consideration.”
He continued, “While it would have been simple to allow Judge McAfee’s deadline to lapse or to inform the Court that no conflict prosecutor could be secured -- thereby allowing the case to be dismissed for want of prosecution -- I did not believe that to be the right course of action.”
It did not take long for Skandalakis to ask the court to dismiss all charges against Trump and his codefendants, and Judge McAfee just granted that request.
In filing his motion for dismissal, Skandalakis stated, "This entire case, from the initiation of the District Attorney’s investigation in 2021 to the present, is without precedent. In my professional judgment, the citizens of Georgia are not served by pursuing this case in full for another five to ten years."
He added, "The State having moved for an entry of nolle prosequi for all remaining defendants, the Court grants the motion. This case is hereby dismissed in its entirety."
Trump defense counsel Steve Sadow responded, "The political persecution of President Trump by disqualified DA Fani Willis is finally over. This case should never have been brought. A fair and impartial prosecutor has put an end to this lawfare.”
This is big news for Trump, as it is one more distraction that has been removed from his desk. It is also some ammunition removed from the Democrat arsenal that may have been used to attack the president going forward.
