This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
When a Georgia state prosecutor, Fani Willis, was ordered off of the organized crime case she had assembled against President Donald Trump and others, a judge set a deadline of Friday morning to appoint a replacement or the case would be dismissed entirely.
No prosecutor wanted it. Many refused it.
So Peter Skandalakis, chief of the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia, appointed himself to meet that deadline.
He still could now review the evidence and recommend a dismissal anyway.
The case has involved scandal after scandal after scandal for Georgia. Willis hired her paramour to help develop the case, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of tax money on him. The two apparently took exotic vacations together, and Willis claimed she paid him back her share … in cash.
Eventually the courts ordered the paramour, Nathan Wade, off the case, and an appeals ruling later said Willis herself, and her office, were contaminated by the apparent conflicts of interest and had to be gone.
A report at the Washington Examiner said the "sweeping racketeering" case has been suspended by uncertainty for weeks now.
The report said Skandalakis confirmed no one else would accept the assignment of working on Willis' failure.
Steve Sadow, representing Trump, repeated his suggestion that the case be dropped entirely.
"This politically charged prosecution has to come to an end," he said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. "We remain confident that a fair and impartial review will lead to a dismissal of the case against President Trump."
The case claims Trump and others tried to overturn the state's 2020 presidential election.
"The filing of this appointment reflects my inability to secure another conflict prosecutor to assume responsibility for this case," Skandalakis said in a Fulton County Superior Court filing.
Four defendants pleaded guilty: bail bondsman Scott Hall, who admitted to misdemeanor conspiracy charges; former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, who pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor counts; Trump legal adviser Jenna Ellis, who pleaded guilty to a felony count of aiding and abetting false statements; and attorney Kenneth Chesebro, who pleaded guilty to a felony count of conspiring to file false documents, the Examiner reported.
Other defendants include Giuliani, Meadows, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark, Ray Smith, Austin Cheeley, Scott "Matt" Shafer, Shawn Still, Caroline Wooten Kutti, Harrison Floyd, Kurt Hilbert, Mike Roman, David Lee, and Robert Cheeley, all of whom have pleaded not guilty.
"Several prosecutors were contacted and, while all were respectful and professional, each declined the appointment. Out of respect for their privacy and professional discretion, I will not identify those prosecutors or disclose their reasons for declining."
He said the move will let him decide the "best course of action" for the future of the case.
Willis named Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, and a long list of political aides, lawyers, and Republican electors as co-defendants.
