A state prosecutor will investigate whether Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones violated criminal law in his efforts to help former President Donald Trump subvert the 2020 election results in the state.
Peter Skandalakis, director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, has appointed himself to investigate the matter, according to a news release.
Jones, a Republican, was one of the 16 fake pro-Trump electors in the Peach State who signed on to the “unofficial electorate certificate” in a plan to subvert the Electoral College in the 2020 election. Jones was a state senator at the time.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat who is overseeing the sprawling election interference case against Trump and his 14 remaining co-defendants, was disqualified from investigating Jones in 2022. A Fulton County judge ordered Willis not to move ahead with a case against Jones, whom she had labeled a “target,” after she hosted a campaign fundraiser for his political opponent.
It took nearly two years for Skandalakis to announce his decision that he would appoint himself to spearhead a potential case against Jones. As director of the bipartisan group that oversees all prosecutors in the state, he was responsible for finding a replacement for Willis to decide whether a case should move forward.
Jones told CNN in a written statement: “I’m happy to see this process move forward and look forward to the opportunity to get this charade behind me. Fani Willis has made a mockery of this legal process, as she tends to do. I look forward to a quick resolution and moving forward with the business of the state of Georgia.”
This story has been updated with additional background information.