Prosecutor appointed to investigate Georgia lieutenant governor in election probe

A prosecutor has been appointed to continue the investigation into Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who became ensnared in the state's election interference probe after he acted as one of former President Donald Trump's alternate electors following the 2020 election.

The investigation into Jones was stalled after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was disqualified in July of 2022 from investigating him, after she held a fundraiser for his political opponent.

Jones had been notified that he was a target of the investigation, along with the rest of the alternate electors, according to court documents.

Now, the independent counsel tasked with appointing the new prosecutor has said that Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia, will take over the investigation.

Skandalakis will determine what charges, if any, should be brought.

Congressional investigators said the so-called "fake elector" plan sought to assemble "groups of individuals in key battleground states and got them to call themselves electors, created phony certificates associated with these fake electors and then transmitted these certificates to Washington, and to the Congress, to be counted during the joint session of Congress on January 6th."

In an earlier statement, Skandalakis said "this case is unprecedented in its scope and nature."

In a statement, Jones said he was "happy to see this process move forward and look forward to the opportunity to get this charade behind me."

"Fani Willis has made a mockery of this legal process, as she tends to do," Jones said. "I look forward to a quick resolution and moving forward with the business of the state of Georgia."

Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty last August to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.

Four co-defendants subsequently took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.