A special prosecutor has opted not to press charges against Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones related to his involvement in efforts to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in Georgia during the 2020 presidential election. Pete Skandalakis, the head of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, announced on Friday that he has decided against bringing the matter to a grand jury. Skandalakis took on the case in April after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was prohibited from prosecuting Jones due to a conflict of interest in her election interference case against Trump and others.
Jones was one of 16 state Republicans who gathered at the Georgia Capitol in December 2020 to sign a certificate asserting Trump’s victory in Georgia, despite Joe Biden being declared the winner. As a state senator at the time, Jones joined efforts to challenge Biden’s win in Georgia’s legislature and signed onto a court brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to support a request to invalidate election results in multiple states.
Although Jones flew to Washington in January 2021 to meet with Vice President Mike Pence and carried a letter requesting a delay in Electoral College vote counting, he ultimately did not hand over the letter as he believed Pence was not receptive to the argument. Following Willis’ notification in 2022 that Jones was under investigation for potential illegal election interference, Jones argued against Willis prosecuting him due to a perceived conflict of interest.
The Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council was tasked with appointing a prosecutor to evaluate whether Jones should face charges after Willis obtained an indictment against Trump and others in August 2023. After examining evidence, including transcripts and interviews, Skandalakis determined that Jones had not acted with criminal intent and that no further investigation or charges were warranted.
Jones, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing and maintained that he acted on legal advice, expressed gratitude for the decision not to pursue charges. Despite the decision, scrutiny of Jones’ actions following the 2020 elections is unlikely to diminish, especially as he gears up for a potential gubernatorial run in 2026 and continues to align himself with Trump.
Efforts by state senators with ties to Jones to investigate Willis could intensify in the aftermath of the decision not to prosecute Jones. The decision spared Skandalakis from potential challenges, given Jones’ influential position as lieutenant governor with oversight over budget allocations for the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council.
