New Attorney General Takes Up Election Interference Case in Georgia Against Trump and His Allies

The latest criminal case pending against President Trump can move forward. The case stems from efforts by Trump and his allies in 2020 to overturn that election, including pressuring Georgia officials to change the vote count. Prosecutor Fanny Willis brought the charges, but they were removed after a legal battle. Liz Landers discussed more with Tamar Hallerman.

Amna Nawaz:

Welcome to the News Hour.

The latest pending criminal case against President Donald Trump can move forward. The personal scandal forced the Georgia district attorney and special counsel who initially dismissed election interference charges from the case. Facing a court-imposed deadline to find their replacement by today, the head of a nonpartisan government agency chose himself.

White House correspondent Liz Landers is here with more.

Liz Landers:

The case stems from efforts by President Trump and his allies in 2020 to overturn the results of that election, including pressuring state and local officials in key swing states like Georgia to change the vote count.

The president and 18 other people, including local election officials and former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, were indicted in 2023 in a racketeering conspiracy case. Prosecutor Fanny Willis brought the charges, but they were removed after a legal battle.

For a real-life perspective, Tamar Hallerman joins us now. She is a senior reporter covering the issue for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Tamar, thanks for joining News Hour.

Tamar Hallerman, Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Thanks, Liz.

Liz Landers:

So the head of the search for a new prosecutor, Peter Skandalakis, will now lead the prosecution.

What should we know about him and how did he end up in this position?

Tamar Hallerman:

Pete Skandalakis is a veteran prosecutor here in Georgia, highly respected on both sides of the aisle.

And for nearly 10 years now, he has headed nonpartisan state agencies charged with intervening when a prosecutor has a conflict in a case, which is exactly what happened after Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis was removed from this case over a romantic relationship she had with her deputy, Nathan Wade.

Liz Landers:

So the prosecutor became here because he couldn’t find anyone else? Is this what happened in the first place?

Tamar Hallerman:

Yes, this morning he issued a statement saying: I’ve tried to reach out to all these different prosecutors around the state to see if anyone would be interested. Everyone politely declined.

He felt that he owed it to the public, given the intense interest in this case, to take it up, consider it, and review the volumes of evidence collected by Fanny Willis and her team over the years, rather than simply dismiss the case outright himself.

Liz Landers:

We mentioned what exactly is the crux of this issue?

Tamar Hallerman:

This is a large-scale racketeering case here in Georgia. And Donald Trump is kind of the key person at the top of the pyramid.

In this indictment, Donald Trump is accused of orchestrating a conspiracy to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election here in Georgia. And he’s attracting all these different allies, both locals on the ground here in Georgia, but also some of his top allies in Washington, people like former chief of staff Mark Meadows from the White House, and Rudy Giuliani, his former personal lawyer.

It attracts Republican voters who cast their ballots for Trump here in Georgia, even though Joe Biden was declared the winner. It attracts people who came to the home of Fulton County poll worker Ruby Freeman and tried to get her to confess to election fraud, even though that was not the case.

It’s really a very broad and comprehensive issue.

Liz Landers:

Today’s decision allows this case to move forward. But is there any indication of how to proceed with this case? What are the biggest obstacles to bringing this to trial?

Tamar Hallerman:

Yes, Pete Skandalakis has two different options available to him. He can choose to move forward with the case, as has been the case with Fanny Willis for the past several years, or he can choose to end the case immediately, or he can choose to proceed with smaller, more discrete parts of the case.

For example, he expressed suspicion that Donald Trump, while in the White House, might have an ongoing criminal case against him. However, there remain 14 more defendants, although Pete Skandalakis has reviewed an earlier portion of this case involving a Republican elector. He said he felt he didn’t deserve it.

I think at this point, he would likely say that if he chose to go ahead at all, the case would be more detailed and pared down, if he wanted that at all.

Liz Landers:

Do you think these pardons that we saw from President Trump earlier this week might have any impact on how Pete Skandalakis thinks about this particular issue in Georgia?

Tamar Hallerman:

Pete Skandalakis issued a statement earlier this week when this pardon became public, saying he didn’t think it would have any impact at all.

And remember, this case in Fulton County is about state law, Georgia law, not federal law, which the president has authority over. Although it is noteworthy that he pardoned all eighteen of his co-defendants in this case, no, I don’t think it would have any impact on Pete Skandalakis’ thinking here.

Liz Landers:

Tamar Hallerman, thank you so much for joining The News Hour.

Tamar Hallerman:

Thank you.