The Georgia election case against President Donald Trump officially collapsed Wednesday – and with it, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ disgraceful career.
Willis’ replacement prosecutor declined to pursue charges against Trump, a humiliating end to Willis’ signature prosecution that has dragged on for years.
Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, filed a motion to dismiss the case less than two weeks after taking over from Willis, who was removed over a sexual scandal.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee immediately issued a one-paragraph order dismissing the case in its entirety.
“The strongest and most prosecutable case against those seeking to overturn the 2020 Presidential election results and prevent the certification of those votes was the one investigated and indicted by Special Counsel Jack Smith,” Skandalakis wrote in his court filing. He added that the criminal conduct Willis alleged in her Georgia indictment “was conceived in Washington, D.C., not the State of Georgia. The federal government is the appropriate venue for this prosecution, not the State of Georgia.”
Trump’s lead attorney Steve Sadow celebrated the dismissal.
“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,” Sadow said.
The collapse represents a career disaster for Willis, the Democrat who staked her reputation on the sprawling racketeering case she announced in August 2023 against Trump and 18 others.
The disgraced Willis was removed from the case in December 2024 by the Georgia Court of Appeals after defense attorneys revealed she had a sexual relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired with taxpayer money to lead the case. The court cited an “appearance of impropriety” created by the relationship.
Defense attorneys said Willis profited from the case when Wade used his earnings to pay for vacations the pair took together. During an extraordinary televised hearing in February 2024, Willis and Wade testified about intimate details of their sexual relationship. They claimed the romance didn’t begin until after Wade was hired and that they split costs for vacations and other outings.
After Willis’ disqualification, the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council struggled to find a replacement.
“Several prosecutors were contacted and, while all were respectful and professional, each declined the appointment,” Skandalakis said in November when he announced he would take the case himself.
Michael J. Moore, former U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, predicted the outcome weeks ago.
“If the history between the Trump cases and Mr. Skandalakis foretells the future, these cases are dead on arrival,” Moore said.
Moore called the case “overcharged” by using RICO charges, and said taking it would be “a thankless job, akin to being invited to the center ring at the circus and then told that your job was to clean up after the elephants.”
Willis’ office only recently delivered the massive case file to Skandalakis—101 boxes and an eight-terabyte hard drive. Skandalakis said he hadn’t had time to review everything before deciding to drop the case.
Trump accused Willis of launching the case at the Biden administration’s direction.
“It was started by the Biden DOJ as an attack on his political opponent, Donald Trump. They used anyone and anybody, and she has been disqualified, and her boyfriend has been disqualified, and they stole funds and went on trips,” Trump said recently.
The career blows to Willis have gone beyond losing the Trump case. An Atlanta judge ruled in March 2025 that Willis’ office “intentional, not done in good faith, and were substantially groundless and vexatious” refused to turn over documents requested under Georgia’s Open Records Act, and ordered Willis to pay over $54,000 in attorney fees to Trump co-defendant Michael Roman’s lawyer.
“Willis’ misconduct during the investigation and prosecution of President Trump was egregious, and she deserved nothing less than disqualification. This proper decision should bring an end to the wrongful political, lawfare persecutions of the President,” Sadow said.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution summed it up simply by saying that Willis being removed and then the case being dropped “is a crushing blow to the nationally known prosecutor and is certain to tarnish her reputation for years to come.”