ATLANTA — The newly appointed prosecutor for the Georgia election interference case involving former President Donald Trump and several others announced on Wednesday that he will not continue pursuing the case. This decision marks a significant turn in a highly scrutinized legal battle.

Pete Skandalakis, who now leads the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, assumed control of the case last month. He replaced Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who was removed from the case due to a perceived conflict of interest stemming from a personal relationship with the special prosecutor she had appointed.

Following Skandalakis’ decision, Judge Scott McAfee of the Fulton County Superior Court promptly issued an order dismissing the entire case.

While the case against Trump was unlikely to progress during his presidency, 14 other individuals, including Rudy Giuliani, former New York mayor and Trump’s attorney, and Mark Meadows, former White House chief of staff, were still facing charges.

In response to the dismissal, Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead attorney in Georgia, expressed satisfaction, stating, “The political persecution of President Trump by the disqualified DA Fani Willis has finally come to an end. This case was unjust from the start, and a fair prosecutor has rightly concluded these proceedings.”

After the Georgia Supreme Court in September declined to hear Willis’ appeal of her disqualification, it fell to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council to find a new prosecutor. Skandalakis said last month that he reached out to several prosecutors, but they all declined to take on the case. McAfee set a Nov. 14 deadline for the appointment of a new prosecutor, so Skandalakis chose to appoint himself rather than allow the case to be dismissed right away.

He said Willis’ office had only recently delivered the case file — 101 boxes and an eight-terabyte hard drive — and he hadn’t had a chance to review everything yet. Citing the public’s “legitimate interest in the outcome of this case,” he said he wanted to assess the evidence and decide on the appropriate next steps.

Skandalakis, who has led the small, nonpartisan council since 2018, said in a court filing last month that he will get no extra pay for the case but that Fulton County will reimburse expenses. He previously spent about 25 years as the elected Republican district attorney for the Coweta Judicial Circuit, southwest of Atlanta.

Willis announced the sprawling indictment against Trump and 18 others in August 2023, using the state’s anti-racketeering law to allege a wide-ranging conspiracy to illegally overturn Trump’s narrow loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia.

Defense attorneys sought Willis’ removal after one revealed in January 2024 that Willis had a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to lead the case. The defense attorneys alleged a conflict of interest and said Willis profited from the case when Wade used his earnings to pay for vacations the pair took.

During an extraordinary hearing the following month, Willis and Wade testified about the intimate details of their relationship. They said the romance didn’t begin until after Wade was hired and that they split the costs for vacations and other outings.

The judge rebuked Willis for a “tremendous lapse in judgment” but found no disqualifying conflict of interest, ruling she could stay on the case if Wade resigned, which he did hours later.

Defense attorneys appealed, and the Georgia Court of Appeals removed Willis from the case in December 2024, citing an “appearance of impropriety.” The state Supreme Court declined to hear Willis’ appeal.