Jack Smith asks judge to drop Trump election interference case
Special counsel Jack Smith has asked a judge to dismiss the federal election interference case against Donald Trump as he is set to become the next US president.
In new documents filed on Monday, Smith told the judge the case should be closed because of the Justice Department’s policy that bans the prosecution of a sitting president.
Trump had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to defraud the US and other charges related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.
“As a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, the defendant, Donald J. Trump, will be inaugurated as President on January 20, 2025,” Smith wrote in the new filing. “It has long been the position of the Department of Justice that the United States Constitution forbids the federal indictment and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting President.”
“This outcome is not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant,” Smith added in the six-page filing.
In a statement, Trump’s team said the move to end the case was “a major victory for the rule of law”.
“The American People re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate to Make America Great Again,” said Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung. “The American People and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country.”
The request to dismiss Trump’s election subversion case marks an end to a lengthy legal saga after Smith had to refile charges against the president based on a Supreme Court ruling that found Trump had partial immunity to prosecution.
Trump’s return to the White House has left several of the criminal cases against him in limbo.
His sentencing for his criminal conviction in the state of New York has been indefinitely delayed, while another federal case related to his handling of classified documents is also likely to be dismissed as he takes office.
Smith’s election subversion case against Trump had also faced challenges. The prosecutor was forced to revise the charges against the former president after the Supreme Court ruled in July that Trump was immune from prosecution over “official acts” that took place while he was in the White House.
Smith had argued in a revised indictment that Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results were related to his campaign and therefore not official acts.
When Trump won the 2024 election this month, Smith began to take steps to wind down both the election interference case and the classified documents case, in which Trump was accused of storing sensitive files in his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them.
Trump has pledged to get rid of Smith as soon as he takes office. Smith has reportedly said he plans to step down next year.
Since Trump has won the presidency, “his criminal problems go away”, said former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani.
“It’s well established that a sitting president can’t be prosecuted,” he said.
Trump also faces state charges in Georgia for his attempts to overturn election results there, but that case faces delays as well. An appeals court is considering whether to overturn a previous ruling along Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to stay on the case despite a relationship she had with a prosecutor she hired.
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