A day after the trial judge overseeing Georgia’s election interference case against President Donald Trump and others set a 14-day deadline for the appointment of a new prosecutor following the dismissal of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case, the council tasked with naming a replacement has asked for an extension.
On Friday, Judge Scott McAfee ordered the Prosecuting Attorneys Council (PAC) of Georgia to appoint an attorney to take over the case within 14 days, or else the case will be dismissed.
“Should an appointed prosecuting attorney or representative of PAC fail to file an entry of appearance or request a particularized extension within 14 days from the entry of this Notice, the Court will issue a dismissal without prejudice for want of prosecution,” McAfee wrote in his order Friday.
On Saturday, the council asked the judge for more time, citing the case’s complexity.
“Due to the complexity of this case and the vast personnel and resources required to handle a case of this nature, it will require time to seek a District Attorney Pro Tempore willing to take on this prosecution,” said a court filing from PAC Executive Director Peter Skandalakis, seeking an extension.
Skandalakis said they don’t anticipate even receiving the case file for another four weeks “due to the voluminous size,” and noted the Trump case is just one of over 20 cases they are working on reassigning at the moment.
As such, Skandalakis said they are seeking at least 90 days to appoint a new prosecutor.
The move comes two weeks after the Georgia Supreme Court effectively dismissed Willis from the sweeping racketeering case she brought following the 2020 election.
The state’s Supreme Court last month declined to take up Willis’ appeal of her removal from the case, nearly two years after Willis was first accused of misconduct by Michael Roman, one of Trump’s codefendants, over her relationship with one of the prosecutors on the case.
While the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that the president may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, there are over a dozen other defendants charged in the case — including a number of the president’s current and former allies, including Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows.
Other defendants in the case include David Shafer, who wrote of the looming new prosecutor, “I welcome the review of this ridiculous case by competent and ethical prosecutors who have no partisan agenda.”
All the remaining defendants, including President Trump, have pleaded not guilty.
Trump last month said the Georgia Supreme Court made a “great decision” when they rejected Willis’ appeal, and said she should be jailed for her efforts.
“Now she should be prosecuted. She was a, what she did for people, forget about me, what Fani Willis did to innocent people, patriots that loved our country, what she did to them by indicting them and destroying them, she should be put in jail. She’s a criminal. Fani Willis is a criminal,” Trump said.
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