Special counsel moves to dismiss election interference, classified documents cases against Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) — Special prosecutor Jack Smith has decided to drop two criminal cases against donald trump on Monday, acknowledging that Trump return to the white house will prevent attempts to prosecute him federally for withholding classified documents or attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss.

The decision was inevitable, since the Justice Department’s long-standing policy says that sitting presidents cannot face criminal process. Still, it was a momentous end to an unprecedented chapter in political and law enforcement history, in which federal officials attempted to hold a former president accountable while he simultaneously ran for another term.

Trump emerges unquestionably victorious, having successfully delayed investigations through legal maneuvers and then winning re-election despite accusations that described his actions as a threat to the country’s constitutional foundations.

“I persevered, against all odds, and I WON,” Trump exulted in a post on Truth Social, his social media website.

He also said that “these cases, like all the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and illegal, and should never have been filed.”

The judge in the election case granted the prosecutors’ request for dismissal. A decision on the documents case was still pending Monday afternoon.

The result makes clear that, when it comes to a president and criminal accusations, nothing replaces the verdict of the voters themselves. In court papers, Smith’s team emphasized that the decision to end his prosecutions was not a reflection of the merit of the cases but a recognition of the legal shield that surrounds any commander in chief.

“This prohibition is categorical and does not depend on the seriousness of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s evidence or the merits of the accusation, which the Government fully supports,” prosecutors said in one of their documents.

They wrote that Trump’s return to the White House “conflicts two fundamental and compelling national interests: on the one hand, the Constitution’s requirement that the president not be unduly burdened in the discharge of his important responsibilities. . . and on the other hand, the commitment of the Nation to the rule of law.”

Given this situation, “the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant takes office,” they concluded.

Smith’s team said it would leave intact charges against two co-defendants in the classified documents case — Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira — because “no principle of temporary immunity applies to them.”

Steven Cheung, incoming Trump White House communications director, said Americans “want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country.”

Trump has long described the investigations as politically motivated and has vowed to fire Smith as soon as he takes office in January. He will now begin his second term free of criminal scrutiny by the government he will lead.

The election case filed last year was once seen as one of the most serious legal threats Trump faced as he tried to retake the White House. he was accused of plotting to reverse his defeat to Joe Biden in 2020, an effort that culminated in his supporters’ violent attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.

But the case quickly stalled amid a legal fight over Trump’s broad claims of immunity from prosecution for acts he performed while in the White House.

In July, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution and returned the case to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine what impeachment claims, if any, could move forward. judgment.

The case was just beginning to gain momentum again in the trial court in the weeks leading up to this year’s election. In October, Smith’s team filed a lengthy brief laying out new evidence it planned to use against him at trial, accusing him of “resorting to crimes” in an increasingly desperate effort to overturn the will of voters after he lost to Biden. .

In dismissing the case, Chutkan acknowledged prosecutors’ request to do so “without bias,” raising the possibility that they may try to bring charges against Trump when his term ends. He wrote that this is “consistent with the Government’s understanding that the immunity granted to a sitting president is temporary and expires when he leaves office.”

But such a move may be prohibited by the statute of limitations, and Trump may also seek to pardon himself while in office.

The separate case involving classified documents had been widely viewed as legally clear, especially because the conduct in question occurred after Trump left the White House and lost the powers of the presidency.

The indictment included dozens of felonies accusing him of illegally hoarding classified records from his presidency at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and obstructing federal efforts to recover them. He pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.

The case quickly became mired in delays as U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon was slow to issue rulings, favoring Trump’s strategy of pushing back deadlines in all of his criminal cases while also considering defense motions and arguments. which, according to experts, other judges would have dispensed with without hearings.

In May, he indefinitely canceled the trial date amid a host of unresolved legal issues before dismissing the case outright two months later. Smith’s team appealed the decision, but has now abandoned that effort.

Trump faced two other state prosecutions while running for president. One of them, a New York case involving hush money payments, resulted in a conviction for serious crimes of falsification of business records. It was the first time that a former president was convicted of a crime.

Sentencing in that case is on hold while Trump’s lawyers try to have the conviction thrown out before he takes office, arguing that letting the verdict stand will interfere with his presidential transition and duties.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office opposes the firing but has indicated it would be open to delay sentencing until Trump leaves office. Bragg, a Democrat, has said the solution must balance the obligations of the presidency with “the sanctity of the jury’s verdict.”

Trump was also indicted in Georgia along with 18 other people accused of participating in a sprawling scheme to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election there.

Any trial seems unlikely there while Trump is in office. The prosecution already was waiting after an appeals court agreed to review whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor he had hired to handle the case.

Four defendants pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors. Trump and the others have pleaded not guilty.

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Associated Press writers Colleen Long, Michael Sisak and Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this story.

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