In a dramatic turn of events on November 26, 2025, the final criminal prosecution against former President Donald Trump—centered on alleged election interference in Georgia—was dismissed by Judge Scott McAfee of Fulton County Superior Court. This decision, which followed a motion to dismiss filed by Peter Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, has effectively closed the book on the last of four criminal cases that once loomed over Trump as he sought a return to the White House.
The Georgia case, originally filed in August 2023 by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, accused Trump and 18 others of orchestrating a scheme to overturn his narrow loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. The indictment cited a now-infamous January 2021 phone call in which Trump urged Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to change the outcome, along with efforts to replace Democratic electors, harass an election worker, and copy sensitive election equipment data. However, the prosecution stalled amid controversy over Willis’s personal relationship with a special prosecutor she had appointed, leading to her removal from the case by a state appeals court in December. The Georgia Supreme Court later declined to hear her appeal, leaving the case in limbo.
After several prosecutors declined to take over, Skandalakis assumed responsibility and, after reviewing the evidence and legal complexities, decided not to pursue the charges. In his 22-page motion to dismiss, Skandalakis argued, “It is not illegal to question or challenge election results. Our nation’s foundational principles of free speech and electoral scrutiny are rooted in this very freedom. The State of Georgia is no stranger to such challenges. In 2018, Ms. Stacy [sic] Abrams questioned the legitimacy of Brian Kemp’s victory in the gubernatorial race. Likewise, in 2020, many Republicans struggled to accept the reality that President Donald J. Trump did not win the popular vote in Georgia or in other key states and therefore lost the presidential race.”
Skandalakis further addressed the controversial phone call, stating, “While the call is concerning, reasonable minds could differ as to how to interpret the call. One interpretation is that Trump, without explicitly stating it, is instructing the Secretary of State to fictitiously or fraudulently produce enough votes to secure a victory in Georgia. An alternative interpretation is that Trump, genuinely believing fraud had occurred, is asking the Secretary of State to investigate and determine whether sufficient irregularities exist to change the election outcome. When multiple interpretations are equally plausible, the accused is entitled to the benefit of the doubt and should not be presumed to have acted criminally.”
The motion also highlighted the daunting legal hurdles ahead: “Given the complexity of the legal issues at hand—ranging from constitutional questions and the Supremacy Clause to immunity, jurisdiction, venue, speedy-trial concerns, and access to federal records—and even assuming each of these issues were resolved in the State’s favor, bringing this case before a jury in 2029, 2030, or even 2031 would be nothing short of a remarkable feat.”
Judge McAfee’s prompt granting of the motion ended the prosecution, making headlines nationwide. According to the Associated Press, this dismissal marked the conclusion of the last of four criminal cases against Trump, including the high-profile New York hush money case and two federal prosecutions—one for election interference and another for mishandling classified documents. All were either dropped, resolved, or set aside following Trump’s reelection in 2024, as longstanding Justice Department policy bars prosecuting sitting presidents.
The hush money case in New York had already made history when, in May 2024, Trump became the first former U.S. president convicted of felonies. A Manhattan jury found him guilty of falsifying business records to cover up a payment to a porn actor. Yet, in January 2025, Judge Juan M. Merchan handed down an “unconditional discharge,” leaving the conviction on the books but sparing Trump jail time. Merchan noted Trump’s imminent return to office and said, “Godspeed as you assume your second term in office.” Trump is still fighting to overturn the conviction, with a federal appeals court recently ordering a lower court to reconsider whether the case should remain in state or federal court.
On the federal front, Special Counsel Jack Smith had charged Trump with conspiring to overturn the 2020 election and with illegally retaining classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Both cases were dropped after Trump’s reelection, in line with DOJ policy. Civil litigation, however, continues to dog the former president. Notably, writer E. Jean Carroll won two defamation lawsuits against Trump, resulting in jury awards totaling over $88 million. Trump is appealing these verdicts, with some aspects now before the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, a New York civil fraud lawsuit brought by Attorney General Letitia James in 2022 accused Trump of inflating his net worth to secure favorable loans and insurance terms. In February 2024, a New York judge ordered Trump to pay $355 million, but an appeals court later threw out the bulk of that penalty as unconstitutional, while upholding findings of fraud and temporarily barring Trump and his sons from corporate leadership roles. James has appealed to the state’s highest court.
Beyond Trump’s legal battles, the judiciary itself has faced turbulence. In late November 2025, Judge Cameron Currie dismissed two federal criminal cases against former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, citing the invalid appointment of Interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan. According to Judge Currie, Halligan’s appointment “violated 28 U.S.C. § 546 and the Appointments Clause” of the Constitution. As The New York Times reported, Halligan was the sole prosecutor before the grand juries and on the charging documents, making her involvement impossible to remedy after the fact. Currie dismissed both cases without prejudice, meaning they could be refiled, though Comey’s lawyers argue the statute of limitations has expired. Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed to “take all available legal action, including an immediate appeal.”
Elsewhere in the judiciary, Chief Judge William Pryor of the Eleventh Circuit issued a unanimous ruling against Trump on November 14, 2025, while Judge William Ross Mitchell of Uvalde County, Texas, was suspended after being indicted for official oppression in a dispute with a UPS driver.
Amid these legal sagas, the legal profession is also seeing change. Jami McKeon, the long-serving chair of Morgan Lewis, announced she will step down in September 2026. In New York, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has added several prominent lawyers to his transition team, including Legal Aid Society CEO Twyla Carter and veteran election attorney Jerry Goldfeder.
With the criminal cases against Trump now closed, attention turns to ongoing civil litigation and the appeals process. The legal and political reverberations of these unprecedented events will be felt for years to come, as the nation continues to grapple with the intersection of justice and politics at the highest levels.
