ATLANTA – The head of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia will take over the investigation of Lt. Gov. Burt Jones’ alleged involvement in attempts to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory in Georgia.
In a two-sentence statement, Pete Skandalakis, the council’s executive director, announced his appointment to pursue the case.
A Fulton County judge disqualified Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis nearly two years ago from looking into Jones’ connection to the election interference case, ruling her hosting of a campaign fund-raiser for Jones’ opponent in the 2022 race constituted a conflict of interest.
The investigation of Jones has been in limbo since then, while Willis went on to gain a grand jury indictment last summer charging former President Donald Trump and multiple co-defendants with taking part in a conspiracy to overturn Democrat Biden’s win in Georgia and award the state’s 16 electoral votes to Republican Trump.
“I’m happy to see this process move forward and look forward to the opportunity to get this charade behind me,” Jones said in a statement released Thursday.
“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.”
Jones allegedly was among a group of Republican “fake” electors who met at the state Capitol in December 2020 to cast their ballots for Trump. As the meeting was taking place, the real electors – all Democrats – were meeting elsewhere in the building to certify that Biden had defeated Trump in Georgia.
Jones, serving as a state senator at the time, was elected lieutenant governor in 2022, defeating Democrat Charlie Bailey.
Meanwhile, Willis continues to move ahead in prosecuting Trump and the other co-defendants. The case hit a snag in January when a lawyer for one of the co-defendants filed a motion accusing Willis of having an improper relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to lead the case.
Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled last month that Willis could remain on the case only if Wade resigned, which he did several hours after the judge handed down the decision.