Washington DC: A US federal judge overseeing the case that alleged former president Donald illegally sought to overturn the 2020 election, has agreed to dismiss the charges following a request from special counsel Jack Smith, local media reported. Smith also told a US court of appeals that the special prosecutors are withdrawing their challenge against an earlier dismissial of the case regarding the illegal handling and retention of hundreds of classified documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
Trump had pleaded not guilty in both cases. This brings to an end the prosecution of the US 45th and 47th president. Trump was charged with conspiring to subvert the 2020 election. He is the President-elect after winning the November 5 US presidential election against Democratic candidate and US Vice President Kamala Harris. He will be inaugurated as the country’s 47th president on January 20, next year.
Special Prosecutor Jack Smith asked for the charges to be dropped citing Justice Department policy that says prosecution against an elected president cannot continue during the presidential term, reported Politico. In the Washington DC case, Trump, was accused of pressuring state officials after the 2020 election to change election results that showed Democrat Joe Biden had defeated him and of spreading lies that Biden won only because of massive vote fraud and election irregularities.
Smith first asked US District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan on Monday to dismiss the charges against Trump for allegedly trying to block Joe Biden’s 2020 victory, saying that he “stands fully behind” the allegations but that Justice Department guidelines made clear the case could not go forward as per the Washington Post.
“After careful consideration, the department has determined that [the Office of Legal Counsel’s] prior opinions concerning the Constitution’s prohibition on federal indictment and prosecution of a sitting president apply to this situation and that as a result this prosecution must be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated,” Smith wrote in his filing. “That prohibition is categorical and 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.”
Smith said in motion filed in the court that he conferred with Trump’s lawyers, and they did not object to the request to drop the case. The special counsel has sought to dismiss the case without prejudice, which means prosecutors could decide to charge Trump again after he leaves office in January 2029.
In another court filing, Smith asked an appellate court in Atlanta to remove Trump from a pending appeal. The prosecutor had originally filed the appeal seeking to reinstate dismissed charges that Trump hoarded hundreds of classified national security documents at his Ma-a-Lago resort in Florida when he left the presidency in 2021 as per the Voice of America.
In response to Smith’s request to drop the charges, Steven Cheung, Trump’s spokesman, said in a statement, “The American people re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate to make America great again. Today’s decision by the DOJ ends the unconstitutional federal cases against President Trump and is a major victory for the rule of law. The American people and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country.”
Taking to his Truth Social media platform, Trump said, “These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought.” He said that more than USD 100 million in taxpayer money “has been wasted in the Democrat Party’s fight against their Political Opponent, ME. It was a political hijacking, and a low point in the History of our Country that such a thing could have happened, and yet, I persevered, against all odds, and WON.”
The CNN, however, reported that as president, Trump will not have the power to interfere with the prosecutions brought against him by state authorities in Georgia and New York. However, the courts in those cases will still have to work out immunity questions and issues raised by his return to the White House.
Last week, the judge overseeing Trump’s criminal hush money case in New York postponed his sentencing indefinitely. A jury in the state convicted Trump earlier this year on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment made during the 2016 campaign to adult-film star Stormy Daniels, who alleged a prior affair with the president-elect. Trump has denies the affair.
The US broadcaster’s report further said that Trump is still working to stave off prosecution in Georgia, where he is a defendant in a sprawling case that accuses him and several allies of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the Peach State.
