Tamar Hallerman

Trump’s Justice Department requests Fulton County’s 2020 election records The Department of Justice letter to Georgia’s largest county suggests the Trump administration remains focused on the 2020 race.

The U.S. Department of Justice has requested Fulton County election records from 2020 as the Trump administration and its supporters continue to scrutinize the presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden

www.ajc.com/politics/202...

Fani Willis may use Georgia’s RICO law more than any other DA. At what cost? Since taking office in 2021, Fani Willis has brought 14 RICO cases against 130 defendants, including popular rappers and President Donald Trump.

Since taking office in 2021, Willis appears to have become Georgia's second-biggest user of the state RICO statute behind the AG.

Great comprehensive look of the Fulton DA's use of RICO from my colleagues:

www.ajc.com/news/2025/10...

Meet Ashleigh Merchant, the lawyer who derailed Georgia’s case against Donald Trump Ashleigh Merchant was derided for digging into Fani Willis’ sex life. After the Fulton DA‘s ouster, she feels vindicated.

Great profile by th AJC's @tamarhallerman.bsky.social
Meet the lawyer who derailed Georgia’s prosecution of Donald Trump ajc.com/politics/202...

Meet Ashleigh Merchant, the lawyer who derailed Georgia’s case against Donald Trump Ashleigh Merchant was derided for digging into Fani Willis’ sex life. After the Fulton DA‘s ouster, she feels vindicated.

Meet the lawyer who derailed Georgia’s prosecution of Donald Trump

www.ajc.com/politics/202...

Georgia judge gives 14 days to name new Fulton County Trump case prosecutor If a new prosecutor in the election interference case isn't named in two weeks, the judge could dismiss the case.

Background: On Friday, McAfee had set a two-week deadline to name a prosecutor to replace Fulton DA Fani Willis after her office was removed from case.

The head of the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council then asked for at least 90 days after receiving case file

www.ajc.com/politics/202...

New: Fulton Judge Scott McAfee is now giving a Georgia state agency an extra month to name a new prosecutor in the Fulton election interference case involving President Trump.

The agency's executive director had asked for more time given the very lengthy case file

Georgia judge gives 14 days to name new Fulton County Trump case prosecutor If a new prosecutor in the election interference case isn't named in two weeks, the judge could dismiss the case.

More background: www.ajc.com/politics/202...

With Fani Willis out, who will take over Georgia’s Trump election case? With Fulton County DA Fani Willis and her office disqualified, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia will have a big decision to make.

As I've reported previously, Skandalakis has a very tough job trying to find any other prosecutor who will want to take on this case

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Skandalakis is asking the judge give him at least 90 days to appoint a new DA -- AFTER his office receives the case files.

Executive director Pete Skandalakis said his agency has yet to receive the case file from Fulton prosecutors -- and isn't expecting to receive it for another four weeks given the sheer volume of proceedings 2/

A few days after a Fulton judge gave the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia 14 days to decide who will take on the Fulton Trump case now that Fani Willis has been disqualified, the head of the agency is now asking for an extension 1/

BREAKING: Judge sets 14-day deadline to name new prosecutor in Fulton Trump case If a new prosecutor in the election interference case isn't named in two weeks, the judge could dismiss the case.

Breaking: A nonpartisan state agency has only 14 days to name a new prosecutor to lead the Fulton election interference case involving President Donald Trump -- or the judge overseeing the case will dismiss it entirely

www.ajc.com/politics/202...

Georgia legal observers question subpoena targeting Fani Willis Former prosecutors and legal observers are asking questions as they try to make sense of reporting that the Justice Department has sought out travel records from Fani Willis.

"They’re fishing."

"Warranted and long overdue."

“I literally cannot think of anything that is not political."

Former prosecutors and political observers in Georgia try to make sense of Fani Willis subpoena

www.ajc.com/politics/202...

Georgia election case against Trump might never come to trial The 2020 election is still being fought over, but the evidence might never have its day in court.

The Georgia election interference case, once considered one of the strongest against Trump, has hit the skids. What are the consequences of that?

www.ajc.com/politics/202...

With Fani Willis out, who will take over Georgia’s Trump election case? With Fulton County DA Fani Willis and her office disqualified, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia will have a big decision to make.

What happens to the Georgia Trump case now that Fulton DA Fani Willis is officially out?

Its future rests with a Republican former prosecutor at an obscure state agency already familiar with a portion of the racketeering case

www.ajc.com/politics/202...

Fani Willis loses last chance to stay at the helm Trump Georgia election interference case Georgia's top court declines to hear Fani Willis appeal in Trump case, meaning she can no longer pursue the election interference case.

The decision casts doubt on the future of the last remaining criminal prosecution of Trump. A nonpartisan state agency will now try to find another prosecutor to determine how to proceed with the sweeping racketeering case against Trump and his allies.

More: www.ajc.com/politics/202...

Fani Willis loses last chance to stay at the helm Trump Georgia election interference case Georgia's top court declines to hear Fani Willis appeal in Trump case, meaning she can no longer pursue the election interference case.

BREAKING: Fani Willis loses last chance to stay at the helm Trump Georgia election interference case

www.ajc.com/politics/202...

…. Or perhaps these will be opinions about whether or not the high court should be taking up the disqualification fight.

We should know later this morning 4/4

We had been waiting on the state Supreme Court announce whether or not it would take up the appeal. But worth noting that this entry on the court website says opinions are coming, so perhaps we could see something more definitive… 3/

This is a long time coming. Willis had appealed a December decision from the state appeals court that removed her and her office from the case.

Appeals court ruled Willis’ romantic relationship with the case’s onetime special prosecutor was a conflict of interest 2/

Good morning. This a.m. the Georgia Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on the Fani Willis disqualification fight in the 2020 election interference case.

Posted on the high court’s website: 1/

In a suit filed Tuesday in federal district court in Atlanta, Wade alleged the telecommunications giant violated his privacy and “jeopardized both his well-being and public safety when it unlawfully released” more than 14,000 pages of his cellphone data

www.ajc.com/politics/202...

Ex-prosecutor in Trump case sues AT&T for handing records to defendants Former Trump prosecutor Nathan Wade sues AT&T for releasing cellphone records used to oust him from Georgia election interference probe.

New: Nathan Wade, the former special prosecutor who once quarterbacked the Fulton County election interference case against Trump, is suing AT&T for handing over his cellphone records to defense attorneys as they sought to remove him from the probe

www.ajc.com/politics/202...

Inland Georgia, still battered from Helene, prepares for 2025 hurricane season Georgia counties far from the Atlantic and Gulf are bracing for more big storms after being hammered by Hurricane Helene in 2024, and worrying about a rollback in federal aid.

As Atlantic hurricane season reaches its peak, inland communities in Georgia that were slammed by Helene last fall continue to rebuild and worry about what's next

www.ajc.com/news/2025/08...

Breakdown Season 11 Bonus Podcast Episode · Breakdown · S11 Bonus · 45m

As one attorney told us, "this case, you almost couldn't make it up."

We also have a bonus episode with even more tidbits from the season:
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/3ueu...

Breakdown: The Atlanta true crime podcast Breakdown true crime podcast: How to subscribe, Where to find all seasons of the true-crime podcast Breakdown from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Catch up here on all six episodes of Season 11 of the @ajc.com 's award-winning true crime podcast, Breakdown.

"Three Days in May" traces the unforgettable story of a young Georgia couple who suffer devastating consequences after the death of their child.

www.ajc.com/news/breakdo...

Ep 6: A Very Dangerous Argument Breakdown · Episode

How does their story end?

Stream or catch up below or wherever you get your podcasts

open.spotify.com/episode/4T48...

Now live: the final episode (!) of Breakdown's "Three Days in May."

The Debelbots, convicted of murdering their baby, have lost every single courtroom battle as they've tried to clear their names. Now they're at the end of the line: the GA Supreme Court 1/2

Some Georgia nursing homes at risk of closure from Medicaid cuts The nursing home industry is one of several swaths of the health care sector that could see massive upheaval under the "One Big, Beautiful Bill Act."

Georgia's nursing homes could see massive changes under the “Big, Beautiful Bill."

More than two-dozen could be at an elevated risk of closure, including 17 in GOP districts represented by House members who voted for the law.

View the list here: www.ajc.com/news/2025/08...

AJC veteran Bill Rankin signs off from ‘Breakdown’ true crime podcast The new season of “Breakdown” is the last for the podcast’s founder.

The end of an era :-(

Veteran @ajc legal affairs reporter Bill Rankin retires, says goodbye to ‘Breakdown’ podcast.

We'll miss ya, partner!

www.ajc.com/politics/202...