A special prosecutor announced Friday that he will not be charged in connection with efforts to oust Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones. Donald Trump‘s defeat in the 2020 presidential election.
Peter Skandalakis, who heads the Georgia Council of Prosecuting Attorneys, a judicial agency that assists prosecutors throughout the state, said in a statement that he considers the matter closed.
Jones was among 16 alternate presidential electors who met at the state Capitol on December 14, 2020 and voted for Trump even after the official vote count was confirmed. Joe Biden defeated him in the state. In addition, Jones was asked by the chairman of the Georgia Senate Judiciary subcommittee to send a letter to then-Vice President Mike Pence on January 5, 2021, requesting a delay in the Electoral College vote count. Jones, then a state senator, did not deliver the letter.
“My review of the evidence does not warrant further consideration of this matter. The evidence shows that Sen. Jones acted on the concerns of her constituents and relied on the advice of attorneys when serving as an alternate voter,” Skandalakis said in a four-page statement Friday. “The evidence also shows that Senator Jones did not act with criminal intent, which is an essential element of any crime.”
The Fulton County District Attorney was Fanny Willis It was banned in 2022 from building a case against Jones, then a candidate for lieutenant governor, after he attended a fundraiser for a Democrat in that race.
In April, Skandalakis became the lead prosecutor in the Jones investigation and said he reviewed transcripts and witness statements, videos from Georgia Legislative committees, the Atlanta District Attorney’s investigative file and text messages from Jones’ phone. He also said he conducted four interviews with Jones.
Jones has denied wrongdoing in the case and blasted Willis in a statement Friday.
“I have always wanted to tell my story in front of a fair and impartial prosecutor, Fanny Willis’s obviously not. I am grateful to finally have the opportunity to do so. Ms. Willis has wasted millions of taxpayer dollars to weaponize our judicial system, raise her political profile and fund an inappropriate relationship with her boyfriend,” Jones said in a statement.
A spokesman for the Futon County Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening.
Trump and more than a dozen others were indicted in August 2023 on federal charges related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia. Four of the original 19 defendants pleaded guilty, while Trump and the others pleaded not guilty.
The judge overseeing the case threw This week, three of the first 41 counts in the indictment were filed, including two against Trump. Efforts to remove Willis as prosecutor have been dropped.