A Georgia judge has dismissed the sprawling 2020 election interference case against Donald Trump, ending the final effort to prosecute the president for allegedly attempting to overturn his loss to Joe Biden.
Peter Skandalakis, who took over the case after the initial prosecutor's removal, asked Judge Scott McAfee to dismiss the charges on Wednesday.
Trump's lawyer Steve Sadow praised the decision to end the political persecution against the president.
The dismissal concludes the last of Trump's four criminal cases, only one of which saw trial and resulted in a conviction.
A Georgia appeals court removed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case after it determined a romantic relationship with a special prosecutor created an appearance of impropriety.
Skandalakis, executive director of the nonpartisan agency Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia, appointed himself to the case after Willis' disqualification and when other state prosecutors declined to take it on.
In Wednesday's motion to a Fulton County judge, he said he was discontinuing the case to serve the interests of justice and promote judicial finality.
Around five million votes were cast in Georgia in 2020, with Biden winning the state by just under 12,000 votes. Trump's refusal to accept the outcome prompted an intensified focus on Georgia in the aftermath of the election.
The case originally included complex charges, including racketeering against several defendants. However, following the dismissal, charges were also dropped against co-defendants like Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows.
Experts observed that despite the significant implications of the case, the circumstances leading to its dismissal had been anticipated due to the challenges faced under the previous prosecutor, and the case was likely overwhelmed by the broader political landscape.
