The last outstanding criminal case against President Trump can move forward. This case stems from the efforts in 2020 that Trump and his allies allegedly undertook to overturn that election, including pressuring Georgia officials to change the vote counts. Prosecutor Fani Willis brought the charges but was removed following a legal battle. Liz Landers discussed more with Tamar Hallerman.
Amna Nawaz:
Welcome to the “News Hour.”
The last outstanding criminal case against President Donald Trump can move forward. Personal scandal forced the Georgia district attorney and special counsel who initially brought the election interference charges off the case. Up against a court-imposed deadline to find their replacement by today, the head of a nonpartisan state agency chose himself.
White House correspondent Liz Landers is here with more.
Liz Landers:
This case stems from the efforts in 2020 that President Trump and his allies allegedly undertook to overturn the results of that election, including pressuring state and local officials in key swing states like Georgia to change the vote counts.
The president and 18 other people, including local election officials and former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, were charged in 2023 in a racketeering conspiracy case. Prosecutor Fani Willis brought the charges, but was removed following a legal battle.
For an on-the-ground perspective, Tamar Hallerman joins us now. She’s a senior reporter covering this case for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Tamar, thank you for joining “News Hour.”
Tamar Hallerman, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Thanks, Liz.
Liz Landers:
So the head of search for a new prosecutor, Peter Skandalakis, will now be heading up the prosecution.
What do we need to know about him and how did he end up in this position?
Tamar Hallerman:
Pete Skandalakis is a veteran prosecutor here in Georgia, well respected on both sides of the aisle.
And for almost 10 years now, he’s headed the nonpartisan state agencies that is tasked with stepping in whenever a prosecutor has a conflict in this case, which is exactly what happened after Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis was removed from this case because of a romantic relationship she had with her deputy, Nathan Wade.
Liz Landers:
So he became the prosecutor here because he couldn’t find anyone else? Is that basically what happened?
Tamar Hallerman:
Yes, this morning, he puts out a statement saying, I tried reaching out to all of these different prosecutors around the state to see if anyone was interested. Everyone politely declined.
And he felt like he owed it to the public, given the intense interest in this case, to take it up, to look into it, to review the volumes of evidence that Fani Willis and her team have put together over the course of years, rather than just dismissing the case outright himself.
Liz Landers:
Remind us, what exactly is at the heart of this case?
Tamar Hallerman:
This is a super sweeping 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 and overturn the results of the 2020 election here in Georgia. And it pulls in all of these different allies, both local folks 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, Rudy Giuliani, his former personal attorney.
It pulls in Republican electors who cast votes for Trump here in Georgia, even though Joe Biden had been declared the winner. It pulls in folks who showed up at the house of Fulton County poll worker Ruby Freeman and tried to get her to admit that she’d committed election fraud, even though that wasn’t the case.
It really is a sweeping, very broad case.
Liz Landers:
Today’s decision allows this case to move forward. But is there any indication as to how he may proceed with this case? And what are the biggest obstacles to bringing this to trial?
Tamar Hallerman:
Yes, Pete Skandalakis has a couple different options available to him. He can choose to move forward with the case, as Fani Willis had been over the last several years, he could choose to kill it outright, or he could choose to move forward with just smaller, more discrete parts of the case.
For example, he’s expressed skepticism that Donald Trump, while he’s still in the White House, could have a criminal case ongoing against him. That said, there’s still 14 other defendants, though Pete Skandalakis had reviewed a prior portion of this case having to do with one of the Republican electors. He said he felt like it was not merited.
I think, at this point, it’s most likely to say that, if he chooses to move forward at all, it will be a more tailored, slimmed-down case, if he wants to at all.
Liz Landers:
Do you think that these pardons that we saw from President Trump earlier this week may have any impact in how Pete Skandalakis is thinking about this particular case in Georgia?
Tamar Hallerman:
Pete Skandalakis put out a statement earlier this week when these pardons became public, saying that he does not think it will have an impact at all.
And, remember, this case in Fulton County has to do with state law, Georgia law, not federal law, which is what the president has power over. Though it is notable that he did issue pardons to all 18 of his co-defendants in this case, no, I do not think it will 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.
