President Donald Trump is facing a renewed legal headache as Georgia prosecutors move to revive a criminal case accusing him of trying to overturn the 2020 election. While some charges were dismissed last year, a “curious development” has put the case back in focus — and in a way that “could still be a problem for the president,” MS NOW reported Monday.
Trump was indicted in 2023 on conspiracy charges over an alleged plot to have then-Vice President Mike Pence swap authentic electoral certificates for fake ones, aiming to change the 2020 election outcome in Trump’s favor.
The Georgia investigation, once considered Trump’s strongest criminal threat, stalled after prosecutor Fani Willis admitted to a romantic relationship with her appointed special prosecutor, leading to her removal.
On Friday, however, “the frozen case suddenly thawed,” MS NOW reporter Hayes Brown wrote Monday, when Peter Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, announced he would take over the case.
“While Trump himself may be inoculated from prosecution while in office, the same can’t be said about his co-defendants in the massive anti-racketeering case,” Brown noted.
“The pardon he signed earlier this month doesn’t automatically protect those alleged to have violated state law by trying to funnel Georgia’s electoral votes to Trump. And a curious development across the country speaks to how the case against them could still be a problem for the president.”
The “curious development” comes from other states. Last week, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled its fake electors case could move forward. In Arizona, charges could proceed if Attorney General Kris Mayes does not appeal “within the next week.”
“There’s hope yet that there will be accountability for the men and women who attempted to subvert American democracy,” Brown wrote.
Even Trump’s recent federal pardon for participants in the fake electors scheme doesn’t fully shield his co-defendants. “There’s a chance that the pardon Trump recently signed shielding those in the fake electors scheme from federal charges could be used to try to dismiss at least some of the state charges against those fake electors. But even if that proves successful, other parts of the indictment would remain against several of the alleged co-conspirators in Georgia, putting the spotlight back on how the president sought to ignore the will of the voters to remain in power.”
The Georgia case comes from a sprawling 2023 Fulton County indictment accusing Trump and 18 alleged co-conspirators of racketeering and multiple counts of conspiracy to flip Georgia’s election results. Skandalakis took over after several prosecutors declined. “Skandalakis… did not indicate whether he’ll be moving forward with the case anytime soon. But his not letting it be dismissed on a technicality seems encouraging.”
Similar cases are progressing across the country. Nevada and Arizona are moving forward, Wisconsin continues against three Trump campaign officials, and Michigan’s case was dismissed.
“Other parts of the indictment would remain against several of the alleged co-conspirators in Georgia, putting the spotlight back on how the president sought to ignore the will of the voters to remain in power,” the report states.
