The prosecutor who recently took over the Georgia election interference case against President Trump and others said in a court filing Wednesday that he has decided not to pursue the case further, per the AP. Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia, took over the case last month from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who was removed over an "appearance of impropriety" created by a romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she chose to lead the case. Skandalakis said he tried and failed to find a prosecutor to take up the case before appointing himself, rather than allowing the case to be dismissed.
"Given the complexity of the legal issues at hand ... bringing this case before a jury in 2029, 2030, or even 2031 would be nothing short of a remarkable feat," Skandalakis wrote Wednesday, explaining why he would not pursue the case, per CNN. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee then issued a one-paragraph order dismissing the case in its entirety, thereby ending "a legal effort once seen as a grave threat to Trump's political future," CNN reports. It was unlikely that legal action against Trump could have moved forward while he is president. But 14 other defendants still faced charges, including former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.