A judge dismissed the Georgia state criminal election fraud case against President Donald Trump and his co-defendants, including Palm Beach resident and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, on Nov. 26 at the request of a prosecutor.
Peter Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, said in a motion filed in the Fulton County Superior Court that he believes declining to prosecute the case any further would best “serve the interests of justice and promote judicial finality” in the case.
The decision comes after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, whose office brought charges against Trump and several other co-defendants, was disqualified from the case as a result of a romantic relationship she had with another prosecutor.
President Donald Trump speaks during the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardoning ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House on Nov. 25, 2025.
“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,” said Steve Sadow, a lawyer for Trump, in a statement.
Willis’ office and the White House didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
After casting his vote at the Gaines Park Community Center early voting site in West Palm Beach, FL, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (c) speaks to media during a press conference just outside the facility October 31, 2024.
“The decision to dismiss all criminal charges against Mayor Rudy Giuliani is long overdue and represents a complete repudiation of the demonstrably false claims that partisan actors used to justify his improper disbarment,” Giuliani spokesman Ted Goodman said in a statement emailed to the Palm Beach Daily News.
“The integrity of our justice system cannot be fully restored until Mayor Giuliani’s law license is reinstated and the hundreds of other victims of political weaponization against President Trump and his supporters receive the justice they deserve.”
The case alleged that Trump and others participated in a conspiracy to overturn former President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory, including by replacing the presidential electors for Georgia with Trump supporters.
Skandalakis said he appointed himself to handle the case after he was unable, as head of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, to secure another prosecutor to take on the case after Willis was disqualified.
Prosecutor: ‘No realistic prospect’ for Trump to stand trial soon
Skandalakis, in his motion, didn’t downplay the seriousness of some of the allegations in the case. If proven, he said, they would establish a conspiracy “to overturn the results of the November 2020 Presidential Election in Georgia, and in other states across the country.”
But he said there is “no realistic prospect” that a sitting president would be compelled to stand trial in Georgia, meaning any case against Trump couldn’t be revamped until at least 2029 – about eight years after the underlying alleged actions took place.
Skandalakis added that he thought the strongest case against those who sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election was the federal case that was brought by former special counsel Jack Smith against Trump. He said the criminal conduct alleged in the Georgia case was “conceived in Washington, D.C., not the State of Georgia.”
Smith dropped the federal case after Trump won the 2024 election, citing a Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
Skandalakis also dismissed the idea of taking co-defendants of Trump to trial on their own, writing that Trump was the lead defendant and, as the presidential candidate and later the sitting president, “bears the responsibility for any conspiracy, if it were proved at trial.”
“In my professional judgment, the citizens of Georgia are not served by pursuing this case in full for another five to ten years,” Skandalakis wrote.
Giuliani acted as an attorney for Trump in several states following the 2020 presidential election, as Trump sought to overturn or challenge results.
On July 15, 2024, Giuliani filed a declaration of domicile in Palm Beach County to declare his condo unit in the Southlake building in Palm Beach his permanent residence, county records show.
Giuliani earlier this year was allowed to keep the condo after reaching a settlement with two Georgia election workers, who won a $148 million judgment against the former New York City mayor in 2023. Giuliani had falsely claimed the women, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, stuffed ballot boxes during the 2020 election. Freeman and Moss sued Giuliani in federal court to collect on that judgment, and settled before the case reached trial.
Contributing: Josh Meyer – USA TODAY.
This story has been updated with additional information.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Charges dropped against Trump, Giuliani in Georgia 2020 election case
