Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to dismiss the federal election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump.
Once Trump won the presidential election, that meant that his two federal criminal cases (this one and the classified documents case) would eventually go away, whether by lawyers in the current Justice Department or the next one moving to dismiss, or Trump potentially attempting to pardon himself. The DOJ also has a policy against charging and prosecuting sitting presidents. Smith already was reportedly planning on resigning before Trump, who vowed to fire Smith, took office.
Smith’s motion cited that DOJ policy and said that the prosecution “must be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated.” But the special counsel added that the decision to ask to dismiss the case “does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind.”
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Both of Trump’s federal cases were paused while the courts awaited word from Smith about how he wanted to proceed in the cases due to Trump’s election. Before that, the federal election interference case was back in the trial court with Chutkan, who was tasked with figuring out how to proceed with the case after the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling curtailed Smith’s charges.
In the classified documents case, Smith was appealing U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s dismissal of the case on the grounds that Smith was unlawfully appointed. Unlike the election interference case, Trump has two co-defendants in the classified documents case, which raises additional issues to consider on top of the fact that it is in an appellate court as opposed to the trial court. Like in D.C., Smith told the federal appeals court he would update the court with his plans by Dec. 2.
Trump also has two state criminal cases (in New York and Georgia) whose fate is less clear, because presidents don’t have the same power to make them go away.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
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