Lt. Gov. Burt Jones won’t be prosecuted in Ga. election case
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A Georgia prosecuting counsel has declined to charge Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in a probe into alleged 2020 election interference in the state.
On Friday, Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia, said Jones was acting in his capacity as an alternate elector who wished to certify the 2020 presidential election in favor of Donald Trump.
A state senator at the time, “Jones’ involvement and actions during the times in question [were] within the scope of his duties as a senator to address the concerns of constituents and that his participation in voting as an alternate elector on Dec 14, 2020, was a result of relying upon the advice of attorneys and legal scholars.
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“Therefore, this case does not warrant further investigation or further actions, and I consider the matter closed,” Skandalakis said.
Georgia’s intensely contested 2020 election was the first time a Democrat — Joe Biden — carried any deep Southern state in a presidential election since Bill Clinton’s victory in 1992.
Jones was one of 16 Republicans who acted as alternate electors for Trump in Georgia. But a judge disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from building a case against him, citing a “conflict of interest” because she had held a fundraiser for Jones’ opponent in the 2022 Georgia lieutenant gubernatorial race, Democrat Charlie Bailey. The case was turned over to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia in 2022.
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“Throughout this investigation, four questions were considered,” Skandalakis said. “Did this matter warrant further investigation by law enforcement agencies? Should this investigation be submitted to another special purpose grand jury for further investigation? Is there sufficient evidence to the finding of probable cause for filing charges? And if yes, should this matter be presented to a regular grand jury for consideration of charges?
“The answer to each question is ‘no,’” he said.
Skandalakis said he reviewed transcripts and depositions of witnesses testifying before a Fulton County special purpose grand jury; videos of Georgia senate and house committee meetings during December 2020; the Atlanta Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office’s investigative file; cell phone and text messages from Jones’ phone; and four separate interviews with Jones himself.
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Jones became Georgia’s 13th lieutenant governor in 2022, defeating Bailey behind Trump’s strong endorsement.
On June 14, Willis attended a fundraiser for Bailey, well after she had already convened a grand jury to investigate an alleged plot involving 16 Republicans who served as fake electors, one of whom was Jones.
Skandalakis’ ruling comes one day after Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee dismissed two charges Willis had filed against Trump in her historic indictment.
The decision was also announced the same day Willis defied a subpoena from a state senate committee investigating her conduct in Trump’s indictment, in which she and former special prosecutor Nathan Wade had a now-itted romantic relationship.
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