Trump criminal election case paused as Jack Smith weighs fate
Special counsel Jack Smith makes a statement to reporters about the 37 federal charges returned by a grand jury in an indictment of former U.S. President Donald Trump on charges of unauthorized retention of classified documents and conspiracy to obstruct justice as Smith speaks at his offices in Washington, U.S. June 9, 2023.
Leah Millis | Reuters
A judge on Friday paused proceedings in the criminal election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump at the request of special counsel Jack Smith, a move that reflects the expected end of the prosecution.
Smith said that vacating the schedule of remaining pretrial motion deadlines would give the prosecutor’s team “time to assess this unprecedented circumstance” of Trump’s electoral victory “and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.”
“By December 2, 2024, the Government will file a status report or otherwise inform the Court of the result of its deliberations,” Smith wrote in a filing in federal court in Washington, D.C., which noted that Trump’s lawyers did not object to the requested pause.
Trump is charged in the case with crimes related to his efforts to undo his loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Trump’s win against Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this week was considered a death knell for Smith’s prosecutions against him.
Trump has said he plans to fire Smith, and is expected to force the DOJ to end the prosecutions.
And DOJ policy effectively bars the department from prosecuting a president while in office.
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