Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones won’t face charges in 2020 election interference case
Peter Skandalakis, who leads the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, said Friday that he considered the matter closed.
A special prosecutor announced Friday that Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones will not be charged over efforts to overturn Donald Trump’s electoral defeat in the 2020 presidential election.
Peter Skandalakis, who leads the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, a judicial agency that assists prosecutors across the state, said in a statement that he considered the matter closed.
Jones was among a slate of 16 alternate presidential electors who met at the state Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, and cast votes for Trump even after an official vote count confirmed Joe Biden defeated him in the state. Additionally, Jones was asked by the chairman of a Georgia Senate Judiciary subcommittee to deliver a letter to then-Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 5, 2021, requesting a delay in counting the Electoral College votes. Jones, then a state senator, did not deliver the letter.
“My review of the evidence finds this matter does not warrant further consideration. 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 said in a four-page statement Friday. “The evidence also indicates Senator Jones did not act with criminal intent, which is an essential element of committing any crime.”
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was barred in 2022 from building a case against Jones, who at the time was running for lieutenant governor, after she participated in a fundraiser for a Democrat in that race.
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