A judge in Georgia on Wednesday annulled the significant racketeering case against President Donald Trump concerning his attempts to reverse his defeat in the state’s 2020 election.
The decision from Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who decreed the case “dismissed in its entirety,” concludes the last unresolved criminal proceedings against Trump following his return to the White House in 2024.
McAfee’s decision arrived shortly after state prosecutor Peter Skandalakis requested to dismiss the charges against Trump and his other co-defendants “to uphold the interests of justice and ensure judicial finality.”
“In my professional view, the citizens of Georgia are not benefitted by continuing this case for another five to ten years,” Skandalakis expressed in a court submission.
Trump hailed the decision later on Wednesday, posting a lengthy message on Truth Social stating that “LAW and JUSTICE have triumphed.”
“This case should have never been initiated,” Steve Sadow, Trump’s main attorney in the matter, remarked in a statement. “An equitable and unbiased prosecutor has put an end to this legal warfare.”
The charges filed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis initially cited Trump with 13 criminal offenses, including the grave charge of breaching Georgia’s stringent anti-racketeering law.
The indictment, issued by a grand jury in August 2023, claimed that Trump and several co-defendants — including his past attorneys Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows — unlawfully attempted to overturn Joe Biden‘s triumph in the state’s 2020 presidential election.
Those attempts involved pressuring Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to secure enough votes for Trump to alter his loss to Biden.
The case was previously regarded as one of the greatest threats to the GOP leader, already battling a deluge of other criminal accusations and civil lawsuits. At least four of Trump’s 18 co-defendants admitted guilt within two months after the indictment was filed.
It also produced one of the most notable images in recent U.S. political memory: a mugshot of the president, compelled to visit the Fulton County jail for booking on the state accusations.
However, the case encountered significant issues long before Trump’s reelection in 2024 effectively halted it.
In September 2024, McAfee dismissed two of the criminal charges against Trump and some of his co-defendants, although he retained the principal charges.
By that stage, Willis was under mounting scrutiny regarding her romantic association with Nathan Wade, one of the key prosecutors in the case. She defended herself during dramatic courtroom testimony against the impropriety allegations but was disqualified from the case in December 2024.
The Georgia Supreme Court opted against hearing Willis’ appeal. The case was ultimately assigned to Skandalakis on Nov. 14, shortly before he requested McAfee to dismiss it.
“This entire scenario, from the beginning of the District Attorney’s inquiry in 2021 to now, is unprecedented,” Skandalakis wrote in the 23-page appeal for McAfee to terminate the case.
“Never before, and we hope never again, will our nation confront a situation akin to this,” he stated in the request for what is referred to as a “nolle prosequi.”
He highlighted that the likelihood of taking the case against Trump to trial could take years, as there is “no realistic prospect that a sitting President will be compelled to appear” in a courtroom, and it would be “impossible” to proceed swiftly after he exits office in 2029.
Skandalakis also ruled out the chance of separating Trump from the other defendants and holding distinct trials, stating that it would be “both illogical and excessively burdensome and costly for the State and for Fulton County.”
“Some might contend that cases against the campaign attorneys and consultants should proceed even if President Trump is excluded from the indictment,” Skandalakis noted. “However, I am very hesitant to criminalize the act of attorneys giving flawed legal advice to the President of the United States under these circumstances.”
The Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia also lacks the resources to undertake multiple trials, according to Skandalakis. “Continuing with this legal action under these conditions would neither benefit the citizens of Georgia nor fulfill our duty.”
Despite advocating for the case to be closed, Skandalakis indicated that Trump and his allies’ attempts to overturn the 2020 election, in Georgia and beyond, were significant.
“As I have previously expressed, contesting an election is not illegal,” he mentioned. “However, the strategy formulated in Washington, D.C. to contest the 2020 Presidential Election quickly transformed from a legitimate legal endeavor into a campaign that ultimately led to an assault on the Capitol, aimed at obstructing the Vice President from fulfilling his ministerial duty of counting the electoral votes.”
Skandalakis asserted that he believed the case would be “best pursued on the federal level.”
However, he recognized that former special counsel Jack Smith, who had pursued federal charges for election interference against Trump, was compelled to abandon his case after the Supreme Court reinforced immunity rights for former presidents and following Trump’s reelection.
