The Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump and others will proceed after all, a prosecutor announced Friday, potentially reviving the investigation after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s disqualification had all but killed it.
Peter Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia — which a judge had tasked with finding a new prosecutor — announced his own appointment, saying he decided to take over himself after he struggled to find another prosecutor who was willing to take it on or didn’t have a conflict of interest.
Willis was disqualified from the case over an “appearance of impropriety” due to her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she had tapped to lead the case.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee had set a Friday deadline for authorities to name a new prosecutor or drop the case.
In his statement, Skandalakis said he did not believe that “allowing the case to be dismissed for want of prosecution” was the right course of action.
Skandalakis, the district attorney in Coweta County, southwest of Atlanta, did not specifically say whether he would press ahead with the charges against Trump or the other defendants, and he could still decide to abandon the case.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
