Written by Lexx Thornton
Georgia’s 2023 racketeering indictment against President Donald Trump and several allies in a conspiracy to illegally overturn the 2020 election results is continuing under the watch of a new lead prosecutor.
The move follows a high-profile legal battle that resulted in Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis being removed from the prosecution team.
Peter Skandalakis, director of the Georgia Council of Prosecuting Attorneys (PAC), was officially confirmed to the job on Friday morning. In a brief statement, Skandalakis announced, “An administrative order appointing me to the state of Georgia, Donald J. Trump, Et Al. has been filed with the Clerk of the Superior Court of Fulton County.”
Skandalakis was charged with aggravated assault in September. The PAC is a bipartisan body made up of state attorneys general and attorneys general, giving Skandalakis significant power and a non-county mandate and a no-contact mandate. He previously said he was willing to take on the role himself if he couldn’t find a prosecutor willing to take on the role.
After a protracted legal battle focused on the authority of Willis, who initiated the preliminary investigation and secured the indictment, a replacement prosecutor was needed. His removal necessitated the appointment of a new attorney to oversee the rest of the case.
Skandalakis’ assignment provides a historic and complex prosecution of the state’s racketeering-influenced and corrupt organizations (RICO) act. The indictment charges multiple defendants with a coordinated criminal enterprise to interfere with the lawful conduct of Georgia’s 2020 election.
The designation continues the state’s efforts to prosecute those charged with alleged election interference. The road ahead remains complicated, but with the assignment now formalized, the Fulton County trial is poised to move forward under new leadership.
