The Georgia criminal election interference case against President Trump and a number of his allies entered a new phase on Friday, as the executive director of the state’s prosecutor council appointed himself to take over the case, replacing Fani T. Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, who was disqualified from pursuing it.
What the change means for the future of the case was unclear. The new prosecutor, Pete Skandalakis, is a veteran Georgia lawyer who began his career as a Democrat and later switched to the Republican Party. As executive director of the nonpartisan Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, Mr. Skandalakis had been tasked by law with finding a new prosecutor to take on the complex Trump case after Ms. Willis was removed by the Georgia appellate court.
In a filing in Fulton County Superior Court on Friday, Mr. Skandalakis said he reached out to “several prosecutors” in the state, but that each of them declined the appointment. So he said he decided to take on the case himself.
In a statement, Mr. Skandalakis said that while it would have “been simple” to tell the court he could not find a replacement for Ms. Willis — a move that would have likely led to its prompt dismissal — he decided that would not be “the right course of action.”
“The public has a legitimate interest in the outcome of this case,” Mr. Skandalakis said. “Accordingly, it is important that someone make an informed and transparent determination about how best to proceed.”
As the new prosecutor, Mr. Skandalakis now has the authority to steer the case in a number of directions, including taking it to trial as it is, striking plea deals, drop some charges, or striking the case altogether.
“He would have the same prosecutorial discretion afforded to any sitting prosecutor,” said Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University. “He does have the obligation under Georgia law to review every individual case for which probable cause for prosecution exists, and to make a determination based on an analysis of the facts whether to proceed. And he has an ethical obligation to not pursue charges where he doesn’t believe he could secure a conviction.”
In a statement on Friday morning, Steve Sadow, Mr. Trump’s lead defense lawyer in Georgia, said, “This politically charged prosecution has to come to an end. We remain confident that a fair and impartial review will lead to a dismissal of the case against President Trump.”
Norm Eisen, a critic of Mr. Trump and executive chairman of the Democracy Defenders Fund, said in an interview that Mr. Skandalakis’ decision to appoint himself was “a welcome development for our democracy.
“If we don’t have accountability for what happened in the aftermath of the 2020 election,” Mr. Eisen said, “We’re at risk of it happening again.”
Richard Fausset, a Times reporter based in Atlanta, writes about the American South, focusing on politics, culture, race, poverty and criminal justice.
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