ATLANTA – It will be up to the state Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council to select a substitute in the event that a judge disqualifies Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from bringing charges against former President Trump.
However, a group of lawyers has already charged that the president of the council is operating too slowly in order to select a special prosecutor for a related case in which Lt. Gov. Burt Jones may face charges.PAC Executive Director Pete Skandalakis was sued in Clayton County earlier this month by Fayetteville lawyer Wayne Kendall. Kendall’s complaint states that time is running out to file charges against Jones for his role in seeking to throw Georgia’s 16 electoral votes to Donald Trump instead of Joe Biden in 2020. Four of his legal colleagues are named as plaintiffs.
A Fulton County judge barred DA Willis from indicting the lieutenant governor a year and a half ago, placing the onus of designating a conflict prosecutor on Skandalakis. The statute of limitations for Jones’ alleged crimes expires on December 14, according to Kendall.
In an attempt to compel state Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council Executive Director Pete Skandalakis to select a special prosecutor for Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, attorney Wayne Kendall filed a mandamus lawsuit in Clayton County earlier this month. (FOX 5)
“He would be exonerated simply by the passage of time, even though two grand juries in Fulton County have implicated him in four felony crimes under Georgia law,” Kendall stated.
A Clayton County court has been asked by Skandalakis to reject Kendall’s complaint. Skandalakis responded by stating that “the process of identifying a conflict prosecutor to handle the matter in which the District Attorney of Fulton County was disqualified is still ongoing.” The response was submitted by the state Attorney General’s Office.
In addition, he stated that because of court delays brought on by the COVID epidemic, Jones’ statute of limitations is actually one year longer than what Kendall claims.
Regarded as a top candidate for the 2026 governor’s seat, Lt. Gov. Jones was identified as “Unindicted Co-Conspirator Individual 8” in the Fulton County indictment that accused former President Trump and eighteen other defendants of meddling in elections.
The grand jury described Jones as the primary organiser of a gathering of alternate electors on December 14, 2020, and he was part of a group of alleged phoney electors for Trump in 2020. David Shafer, Cathy Latham, and state senator Shawn Still, three of his fellow alternate electors, are charged with first-degree forgery, filing false documents, making false claims and writings, and impersonating public officials.
Regarded as a top candidate for governor in 2026, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones was included as “Unindicted Co-Conspirator Individual 8” in the Fulton County indictment that accused the former president Trump of meddling in elections.
However, DA Willis was unable to bring charges against Jones after a judge barred her from doing so in July 2022. Regarding a fundraiser she organised for Jones’ Democratic opponent for lieutenant governor, the judge declared that she had a conflict of interest.
During a hearing, Willis was informed by Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, “It’s a ‘What are you thinking?’ moment.” “The optics are horrific.”
Due to claims that she had a conflict of interest due to her personal friendship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, Willis may now be disqualified from the entire election interference case.
According to Kendall, he and his clients want Skandalakis to answer for failing to hold the lieutenant governor responsible. They tried to compel a public servant to carry out a nondiscretionary obligation by filing a mandamus petition.
Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council, said the FOX 5 I-Team in August that he will choose a special prosecutor for Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in a few weeks. (FOX 5)
“It seems to me that one of the possibilities is that Mr. Skandalakis is allowing political considerations to come into play with regards to his desires to appoint a conflict prosecutor,” Kendall stated to the FOX 5 I-Team. “And I think that’s inappropriate.”
Skandalakis said he couldn’t discuss ongoing legal matters with the I-Team. He promised FOX 5 last year that he would decide on a special prosecutor in a few weeks.
“That’s going to be extremely difficult to find somebody, not only because of the resources that you need to handle a case like this, but the limitations I have in paying somebody,” Skandalakis stated to the I-Team in August.