A federal judge has dismissed a massive lawsuit against Donald Trump, accusing him of illegally seeking to overturn the 2020 election.
Jack Smith, the special prosecutor who prosecuted the criminal case against Trump, asked for the charges to be dropped, citing Justice Department policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president.
Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed the case “without prejudice,” meaning the charges could be dropped after Trump finishes his second term.
Smith also requested that the lawsuit accusing Trump of improperly storing classified documents be dismissed. Trump has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
“It has long been the position of the Department of Justice that the United States Constitution prohibits federal indictment and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting President,” Smith wrote in the election filing.
“This finding is not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant,” Smith added in the six-page filing.
After leaving office, Trump entered legal territory unprecedented for a former president, becoming the first person to face a criminal trial, and subsequently be convicted, in a related case. to paying adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
At the beginning of the year, he faced nearly 100 criminal charges related to two federal cases and others. The Supreme Court then ruled this summer that he could not be prosecuted for “official acts” considered president, and Trump went on to win the election a few months later there. Now nearly all of those charges have been dropped, with prosecutions in the state of Georgia currently on hold.
Smith’s request in the documents lawsuit must also be approved by a judge. He also asked for it to be dismissed “without prejudice”.
Trump posted on his Truth Social social media page that the federal cases were “empty and lawless, and should never have been brought.”
“It was a political robbery and a low point in our Country’s History that such a thing could happen, and yet, I persevered, against all odds,” he wrote.
Vice President-elect J.D. Vance said prosecutions are “always political.”
“If Donald J. Trump loses the election, he will most likely spend the rest of his life in prison,” he wrote on social media.
Trump has pledged to remove Smith as soon as he takes office. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in 2022 to take on two federal investigations into Trump’s conduct. Smith has reportedly said he plans to resign next year.
Trump’s request to dismiss his election subversion lawsuit marks the end of a long legal saga.
Smith had to refile election subversion charges against the former president based on the Supreme Court’s ruling that Trump was immune from certain prosecutions.
The special counsel argued in the amended indictment that Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results were related to his campaign and therefore were not actions. official.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals is also considering Smith’s appeal to continue the classified documents case, in which Trump is accused of storing dozens of sensitive records at his Florida resort Mar-a-Lago and hindered the government’s efforts to get it back. Surname. Trump-appointed judge Aileen Cannon initially rejected it because she ruled Smith had been improperly appointed to lead the case.
As Trump won the 2024 election this month, Smith began taking steps to resolve both cases, although he said in Monday’s filing that the document appeal would continue to with two other defendants in the case, Trump staffers Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira.
Trump’s return to the White House also puts several state criminal cases against him in limbo.
Sentencing for his criminal conviction in New York state has been delayed indefinitely.
Trump also faces charges in the state of Georgia for his efforts to overturn election results there, but that case also faces delays. An appeals court is considering whether to overturn a previous ruling that allowed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue investigating the case despite her relationship with a prosecutor she hired.
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani said that since Trump is elected president in 2024, “his criminal problems will disappear.”
“It is clear that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted,” he said.
