Georgia Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones will not face charges in relation to his attempts to reverse Donald Trump’s electoral defeat in the 2020 presidential contest, according to a special prosecutor’s announcement on Friday.
In a statement, Peter Skandalakis, the director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, a judicial organization that supports prosecutors throughout the state, declared that he regarded the case as closed.
On December 14, 2020, Jones was present at the state Capitol with a group of sixteen alternate presidential electors. Despite the fact that Joe Biden had been declared the winner in the state by an official vote count, Jones nonetheless cast her vote for Trump.
Furthermore, on January 5, 2021, Jones received a request from the chairman of a Georgia Senate Judiciary subcommittee to deliver a letter to Vice President Mike Pence asking for a postponement of the Electoral College vote count. The letter was not delivered by Jones, a state senator at the time.
“My review of the evidence finds this matter does not warrant further consideration. The evidence reveals Senator Jones acted in a manner consistent with his position representing the concerns of his constituents and in reliance upon the advice of attorneys when he served as an alternate elector,” Skandalakis stated in a four-page statement on Friday. “The evidence also indicates Senator Jones did not act with criminal intent, which is an essential element of committing any crime.”
After Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County, attended a fundraiser for a Democrat running for lieutenant governor in 2022, she was prohibited from pursuing legal action against Jones.
The Atlanta Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office’s investigative file, transcripts and witness depositions, videos of Georgia Legislature committees, and text messages from Jones’ phone were all examined by Skandalakis, who took over as lead prosecutor in the investigation of Jones in April. Additionally, he claimed to have interviewed Jones four times.
In a statement released on Friday, Jones attacked Willis and refuted any misconduct in the case.
“I have always wanted to tell my story in front of a fair and unbiased prosecutor, which Fani Willis clearly is not. I am thankful that I finally had the opportunity to do that. Ms. Willis has wasted millions of taxpayer dollars trying to weaponize our judicial system, increase her political profile, and finance an inappropriate relationship with her boyfriend,” Jones stated.
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In August 2023, Trump and over a dozen other individuals were charged with state felonies in Georgia, which were connected to attempts to void the results of the 2020 election.
Of the original 19 co-defendants, four entered guilty pleas; the remaining defendants, including Trump, entered not guilty pleas.
Three of the indictment’s original 41 counts—two of which were against Trump—were dismissed this week by the case’s presiding judge. The prosecution’s attempts to remove Willis from her position as prosecutor have put the case on hold.
