Georgia

Fulton 19 Update: Jones probe, Trump gets NYC day in court, Georgia summer trial date off track • Georgia Recorder

Published

2 years ago

April 15, 2024

Fulton 19 Update: Jones probe, Trump gets NYC day in court, Georgia summer trial date off track • Georgia Recorder

Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia, will lead an investigation into whether Lt. Gov. Burt Jones’ actions after the 2020 presidential election warrant criminal charges for illegally interfering in Georgia’s electoral vote count.

Georgia’s prosecutors council announced on Thursday they were appointing Skandalakis as special prosecutor, about two years after the state agency was tasked with selecting a district attorney or another bar-certified lawyer with the legal gravitas to take charge of a high-profile investigation into the second highest ranking elected official in state government.

Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney barred District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting Jones in the same racketeering election interference case as Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants, after finding that Willis had a conflict of interest because she hosted a fundraiser for a Democratic candidate who ran against Jones for lieutenant governor during election season in 2022.

Skandalakis, who spent 25 years as the district attorney for the Coweta County judicial circuit, since 2017 has been head of the agency that represents district attorneys and state employees working in prosecutor offices throughout Georgia.

As special prosecutor, Skandalakis will decide whether to press the case against Jones for falsely claiming Trump won Georgia’s 2020 election. A state senator at the time, Jones also pushed for a special session of the Legislature in an attempt to overturn President Joe Biden’s narrow win in Georgia.

Jones and several of his Republican colleagues were unsuccessful in their calls for Gov. Brian Kemp to order a special session, which the governor said was unconstitutional.

Jones released a statement late last week saying he expected a quick resolution to a case while disparaging Willis.

“I’m happy to see this process move forward and look forward to the opportunity to get this charade behind me,” Jones said. “Fani Willis has made a mockery of this legal process, as she tends to do. I look forward to a quick resolution and moving forward with the business of the state of Georgia.”

Calls for Willis to step down from the case have grown since she admitted at a Jan. 15 court hearing that she had a romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, a trial attorney she hired to lead the case. Fulton County has paid Wade more than $700,000 and defense attorneys say trips he took to Aruba and other vacation spots with Willis amount to a conflict of interest for the DA.

The Republican-led state Legislature has also passed a bill that establishes a prosecutors oversight commission to investigate claims of misconduct and other allegations against district attorneys. That panel could target Willis.

Trump New York fraud case starts Monday

Donald Trump is scheduled to be inside a Manhattan courtroom on Monday morning for the start of jury selection for the remainder of his criminal trial that prosecutors anticipate will last about six weeks.

The New York trial focuses on accusations Trump falsified business records to hide hush money paid to keep adult film star Stormy Daniels from disclosing details about an alleged extramarital affair with Trump in 2006.

Prosecutors must convince jurors that bookkeeping errors were committed with the aim of illegally affecting an election. Trump also denies he was romantically involved with Daniels.

New York prosecutors plan to present evidence at the trial to show Trump funneled money to repay his lawyer Michael Cohen for the $130,000 allegedly paid to Daniels in the final month leading up to the 2016 election showdown between Trump and Hillary Clinton.

There are four criminal cases against Trump in progress, and the New York case is the first to go to trial. Trump on Monday becomes the first former president in the nation’s history to face a trial on felony charges. New York law requires defendants to be in court throughout the proceedings.

Fulton trial unlikely to start by Nov 5 election

The odds of Fulton County’s charges against Trump’s reaching a courtroom before the Nov. 5 presidential election continue to fade.

Trump is on course for a rematch of the 2020 contest against Biden.

Willis’ chance of starting the trial by preferred target of late summer likely depends on how an appellate court responds to motions filed by Trump and multiple co-defendants in their quest to disqualify Willis from the case for what they claim is prosecutorial misconduct.

The Georgia Court of Appeals has until mid-May to decide if it’ll review Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee’s decision to allow Willis to remain on the case following the resignation of Wade, the special prosecutor, on March 15.

Willis is fighting calls to stop her from prosecuting the case. A motion she filed last week argues there aren’t any legal grounds for McAfee’s ruling to be reviewed by the court of appeals.

“Setting aside whether Wade’s removal from the case was, in fact, necessary, he withdrew from representation hours after the trial court issued its order, and the District Attorney accepted the resignation,” Willis wrote.

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Georgia

Democrats Are Ready to Reclaim Georgia. Is a Former Republican the Man for the Job?

Published

9 hours ago

April 21, 2026

Press Room

Democrats Are Ready to Reclaim Georgia. Is a Former Republican the Man for the Job?

NORCROSS, GEORGIA — Geoff Duncan, former Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia, won’t stop apologizing.

He’s sorry for supporting the state’s 2019 “heartbeat bill,” which bans abortion at around six weeks, after a fetal heartbeat is detected. He’s sorry for facilitating the passage of a “constitutional carry” bill in 2022, which allows most people to carry a concealed handgun with no license or background check. He’s also sorry for opposing Medicaid expansion, arguing at the time that it was not fiscally responsible.

“I’m sorry for those positions and any harm that they may have done,” Duncan told me.

Duncan first rose to prominence as one of the Republicans who resisted President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn Joe Biden’s narrow 2020 win in Georgia. Duncan has been speaking out against what he calls Trump’s “toxic” and “dangerous” Republican Party since leaving office in 2023, and even endorsed Kamala Harris and spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2024. After being excommunicated from the Georgia Republican Party in January 2025, Duncan switched parties in August. He is now running for governor as a Democrat in what will be one of the most closely watched races in the midterms.

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Georgia

Georgia Tech salvages finale vs. North Carolina ahead of UGA matchup

Published

21 hours ago

April 20, 2026

Press Room

Georgia Tech salvages finale vs. North Carolina ahead of UGA matchup

Georgia Tech didn’t let the weekend get away.

The No. 2 Yellow Jackets were flying high with a 13-game win streak heading into the weekend showdown against No. 3 North Carolina. The Tar Heels took the first two games, but Tech salvaged the finale 5-2 on Sunday.

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Georgia

Gaudette & Patel Pitch Past No. 3 UNC, 5-2

Published

1 day ago

April 20, 2026

Press Room

Gaudette & Patel Pitch Past No. 3 UNC, 5-2

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 2 Georgia Tech got back to its winning ways, defeating No. 3 North Carolina (33-7-1, 15-6 ACC) by a final score of 5-2 from Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Yellow Jackets (32-7, 16-5 ACC) held UNC in check from the third inning on, using 6.1 scoreless innings from Caden Gaudette and Mason Patel to salvage the series and collect its 10th Top 15 victory of the season for this first time this century.

After both teams traded runs in the first inning, the Jackets struck for three runs on three hits in the third. The inning started with a leadoff double from Drew Burress who was quickly brought to the plate by a single from Jarren Advincula. Vahn Lackey drew a walk off a full count before Kent Schmidt connected for an RBI double, bringing in Advincula for what would become the game-winning run. Lackey made it a three-run inning when he scored on an RBI groundout by Ryan Zuckerman. UNC would work the bases loaded and score a run in the bottom of the inning before Gaudette entered the game and induced an inning ending groundout. UNC wouldn’t get another runner into scoring position until the eight inning as Gaudette and Patel slammed the door on any potential comeback.

QUICK HITS: TEAM

The Jackets improve to 32-7, the best start to a season since 2010. Tech is 16-5 in ACC play, the best start since 2011.
Tech has won 32 of its first 39 games for only the 6th time in the program’s 131 seasons: 2010, 2003 2002, 1997, 1993 and now 2026.
James Ramsey owns the best record by any GT head coach in his first season through 39 games (32-7).
The Jackets improve to 8-1 in nationally televised games this season.
Tech has now won 10 games over Top 15 opponents for the first time this century.
Tech has scored 417 runs through their first 39 games. It’s the most runs Georgia Tech has recorded after 39 games in the program’s 131-year history and the most runs any Power 4 team has scored through 39 games in the BBCOR era (since 2011).
The Jackets scoring average now stands at 10.7 runs/game this season. The program record is 10.3, set back in 1984.
GT is outscoring its opponents 417-174, that +243 margin is the highest through 39 games in program history.
The bullpen delivered 6.1 scoreless innings, marking the 15th scoreless outing of the season and second of the weekend.

QUICK HITS: THE BATS

Junior Drew Burress produced his 17th multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored.
He has scored 51 runs this season, one shy of Vahn Lackey for the most on the team. Burress has scored 201 runs over his career, tied with Danny Payne (2005-07) for the 11th most in Georgia Tech history.
He becomes the first Yellow Jacket in the BBCOR era to record 200+ runs over a career.
Junior Kent Schmidt went 2-for-4 with a go-ahead RBI double and a shift-beating bunt.
He leads the team with 26 RBI in ACC play and has delivered 35 for the season.
Schmidt has now collected extra base hits in three straight games for the first time this season and third time in his GT career.
He finishes the series with a .500 average, going 4-for-8 with two doubles, a home run, three RBI, two runs scored and three walks
Junior Jarren Advincula recorded his 24th multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
He leads the ACC with 68 hits this season, averaging 1.7 hits per game and putting him on pace for 94 hits over the course of the regular season. With potential postseason games, that would put him in striking distance of being the first 100-hit player at GT since 2005 (Wes Hodges & Tyler Greene).
He drove in his 45th RBI of the season, the third most on the team behind Vahn Lackey and Ryan Zuckerman.
Junior Ryan Zuckerman became the first Jacket to reach 50 RBI when he drove in Lackey for the fourth run of the game.
Sophomore Caleb Daniel came off the bench in the 5th inning and blooped an RBI double, it was his 24th RBI of the season and his 5th as a pinch hitter.

QUICK HITS: THE ARMS

Sophomore Jackson Blakely made his sixth consecutive weekend start, pitching 2.2 innings with two earned runs allowed and three strikeouts.
He has only allowed runs in only three of his eight appearances this season (37.1 innings) this season.
His ERA stands at 2.65, the lowest among all starting pitchers on the roster.
R-junior Caden Gaudette made his team-leading 16^th appearance of the season and 2^nd of the weekend, pitching 2.1 scoreless innings.
He entered the game with a two-run lead (4-2) and the bases loaded with two outs before inducing an inning ending groundout to short.
Gaudette lowers his ERA to 2.86 in 22.0 innings of work.
The man they call “Rock” pitched a total of 3.1 innings this weekend, allowing only one hit with four strikeouts.
He has now pitched as many innings this season as he had in his previous two years combined (22.0) while allowing less than half as many earned runs (7 in 2026, 15 in 2024-25) and exactly half as many hits (12 in 2026, 24 in 2024-25).
Mason Patel got the ball to start the 6th inning, keeping the score at 5-2 for the final four frames and collecting his fourth save of the season.
Since recovering from an injury that saw him miss 20 days, Patel has made six appearances out of the bullpen, pitching 13.2 scoreless innings with a victory and four saves.
Over the last two seasons, Patel has made 29 appearances out of the bullpen, posting 12 wins and nine saves.
This was his longest relief appearance of the season (4.0 innings) after pitching at least 3.0 innings in 15 of his 23 appearances during his All-American season last year.

Up Next

Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. Tuesday at 7 pm at Truist Park. Tickets are available HERE with all proceeds benefiting the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Full Steam Ahead

Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.

For the latest information on the Georgia Tech baseball team, follow us on X (@GTBaseball), Facebook, Instagram (@gt_baseball) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.

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