Judge sets deadline for naming new prosecutor in Trump election case

Tamar Hallerman, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Oct 9, 2025

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ATLANTA — A state agency will have some extra time to select a prosecutor to replace Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on the election interference case, but not as much as the council’s head had wanted.

On Wednesday, Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said he’d give the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia until Nov. 14 to name a new prosecutor to the high-profile racketeering case, which involves President Donald Trump and 14 other defendants.

McAfee initially told Pete Skandalakis, the council’s executive director, that he had only 14 days to make the call. But Skandalakis had wanted even more time: at least 90 days after he received a physical copy of the case file, which he said would likely take another month to arrive.

McAfee said he would consider issuing a motion that would force the Fulton DA’s office to speed up its delivery of that case file if needed.

The back-and-forth comes several weeks after the Georgia Supreme Court declined to step in and consider an appeal from Willis after a lower court removed her from the case due to a romantic relationship she had with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she appointed and paid to lead the case.

Whoever PAC appoints to replace Willis will have the power to decide whether to move forward with the election interference case, slim it down or dismiss it entirely.

Willis had initially charged Trump and 18 of his allies, alleging they tried to subvert Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 election win in Georgia.