FILE PHOTO: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis attends a hearing on the Georgia election interference case, March 1, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. The hearing is to determine whether Willis should be removed from the case because of a relationship with Nathan Wade, special prosecutor she hired in the election interference case against former U.S. President Donald Trump. Alex Slitz/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Attorney Fani Willis speaks during a hearing in the case of State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., February 15, 2024. REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer/Pool/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A judge on Wednesday agreed to dismiss charges against U.S. President Donald Trump and his allies for allegedly trying to overturn the Republican's 2020 presidential election defeat in Georgia, according to court documents.

Prosecutor Peter Skandalakis had asked for a dismissal of the 39 charges, including racketeering, against Trump and a group of aides, saying prosecuting the case would be "unproductive."

"I recognize that, given the deep political divisions in our country, this decision will not be universally popular," wrote Skandalakis, who earlier this month replaced Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis after she was disqualified last year.

Steve Sadow, a lawyer for Trump, praised the dismissal, saying the case should have never been brought.

The case was one of four criminal prosecutions that Trump faced in the years since losing his 2020 presidential re-election bid to Democrat Joe Biden. Just one — a New York case over a hush money payment to a porn star during his 2016 campaign — went to trial. He was found guilty in the New York case but has asked for the case to be thrown out.

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya and Jasper Ward; editing by Susan Heavey and Alistair Bell)