ATLANTA – The head of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia has exonerated Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in an investigation of the then-Republican state senator’s activities following the 2020 presidential election.
Jones was among a group of GOP alternate electors that met at the state Capitol in December 2020 and voted to cast Georgia’s 16 electoral votes for then-incumbent President Donald Trump even though Democrat Joe Biden had won the popular vote in the Peach State the previous month.
But Pete Skandalakis, who appointed himself to investigate Jones’ involvement after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was disqualified from the case, concluded that Jones did not commit a crime.
“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 wrote in a new release last Friday. “The evidence also indicates Senator Jones did not act with criminal intent, which is an essential element of committing any crime.”
According to Skandalakis, Jones was among a group of Republican state senators that urged GOP Gov. Brian Kemp to call a special session of the General Assembly to investigate complaints from constituents alleging election irregularities and voter fraud during the November election in Georgia.
After Kemp declined to call a special session, lawyers for Trump began focusing on plans to have legislatures in Georgia and other states Biden had narrowly carried send alternate slates of electors to Congress to contest the election results when federal lawmakers moved to certify them.
Jones took part in the meeting of alternate electors in Georgia, voting for Trump. However, Skandalakis concluded Jones did so on the advice of legal counsel.
“Prior to the vote, the electors were advised that their votes were needed to preserve a legal remedy for Trump should the pending lawsuit in Georgia be successful,” he wrote. “If the court cases moved forward and they prevailed, this was an insurance policy.”
Jones used the same argument during his successful campaign for lieutenant governor in 2022, the race that led to Willis being disqualified from prosecuting him. Willis had hosted a fundraiser for Charlie Bailey, Jones’ Democratic opponent, and Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that conflict of interest enough to remove Willis from the case.
A Fulton grand jury voted last August to indict some of the Republicans who served as alternate electors and voted for Trump during the December 2020 meeting. However, Willis chose not to bring charges against others who served in that capacity.