The special prosecutor who brought two major indictments against Donald Trump has asked the jury to drop them both after his victory in the 2024 presidential election.
Special counsel Jack Smith was presiding over the charges accusing Trump of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election and improperly retaining classified documents after leaving office.
Trump had denied both charges.
In new documents filed Monday, Mr. Smith said the charges should be dropped because of a Justice Department policy that prevents prosecution of a sitting president.
“It has long been the position of the Department of Justice that the United States Constitution prohibits federal impeachment and criminal prosecution of a sitting president,” Smith wrote in a filing in the election case.
“This outcome does not depend on the merits and strength of the case against the defendant,” Smith added in the six-page letter.
A judge must sign off on both decisions for them to be legally overturned. Smith asked that both charges be dismissed “without prejudice”, meaning the charges could be refiled after Trump finishes his second term.
Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social that the federal charges were “empty and illegal, and should never have been brought”.
“It was a political carjacking, and it was a low point in the history of our country that such a thing could happen, however, I persevered, despite all the problems,” he wrote.
Vice President-elect JD Vance said prosecutions are “always political”.
“If Donald J. Trump had lost the election, he would have spent the rest of his life in prison,” he wrote on social media.
Trump had committed to removing Smith as soon as he took office. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in 2022 to handle two investigations into Trump’s conduct. Smith is said to have said he plans to step down next year.
The motion to dismiss Trump’s election-rigging case marks the end of a long legal battle. Smith was required to file charges against the president based on a July Supreme Court ruling that Trump could not be prosecuted for “official acts” that occurred while he was in the White House.
Smith argued against the revised lawsuit that Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election were related to his campaign and therefore not legitimate actions.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals was also considering Smith’s appeal to continue the classified documents case, in which Trump is accused of keeping dozens of sensitive files at his Florida resort Mar-a-Lago and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them. see. Trump’s nominee, Judge Aileen Cannon, initially dismissed it because she ruled that Smith was improperly appointed to preside over the case.
When Trump won the 2024 election this month, Smith began taking steps to dismiss both cases, although Smith filed a motion Monday to allow the appeals to continue for the other two defendants in the case, Trump staffers Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira.
Trump’s return to the White House has left many of the criminal charges against him in limbo.
His felony conviction in New York state has been delayed indefinitely.
Trump is also facing federal charges in Georgia over his efforts to overturn the election results there, but that case is facing delays. An appeals court is considering whether to overturn a previous ruling that allowed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to proceed with the case despite her relationship with the prosecutor she hired.
Since Trump won the 2024 presidency, “his criminal problems are disappearing”, said former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani.
“It is clear that the sitting president cannot be prosecuted,” he said.
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