Jack Smith asks judge to drop Trump election interference case
Special prosecutor Jack Smith has asked a judge to dismiss the federal election interference case against Donald Trump as he is set to become the next US president.
In new documents filed Monday, Smith told the judge that the case should be closed because of the Justice Department’s policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and other charges related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.
“Pursuant to the election held on November 5, 2024, Defendant Donald J. Trump will be inaugurated as President on January 20, 2025,” Smith wrote in the new filing. “The Department of Justice’s long-standing position is that , the U.S. Constitution prohibits federal indictment and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting president.”
“This finding is not based on the merits or strength of defendant’s case,” Smith added in the six-page filing.
The Trump campaign said in a statement that the move to end the case was a “major victory for the rule of law.”
“The American people re-elected President Trump and gave him an overwhelming mandate to make America great again,” Trump spokesman Steven Chang said. “The American people and President Trump want an immediate end to the corruption of our justice system. Weaponizing politics, we look forward to uniting our country.”
The request to dismiss Trump’s election subversion case marks the end of a long legal saga after Smith had to refile charges against the president under a Supreme Court ruling that found Trump enjoyed partial immunity from prosecution.
Several criminal cases remain pending against Trump as he returns to the White House.
Sentencing on his criminal conviction in New York state has been postponed indefinitely, and another federal case related to his handling of classified documents is also likely to be dismissed once he takes office.
Smith’s election subversion case against Trump also faces challenges. Prosecutors were forced to revise their charges against the former president after the Supreme Court ruled in July that Trump was immune from prosecution for “official conduct” that occurred while he was in the White House.
Smith argued in the amended complaint that Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results were related to his campaign and therefore were not official acts.
As Trump wins the 2024 election this month, Smith begins taking steps to end an election interference case and a classified documents case in which Trump is accused of storing sensitive documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and obstructing government efforts to recover them.
Trump promised to get rid of Smith as soon as he took office. Smith reportedly said he plans to resign next year.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, said that since Trump won the presidency, “his criminal problems have disappeared.”
“It is well known that a sitting president cannot be indicted,” he said.
Trump also faces state charges in Georgia for trying to overturn local election results, but that case has also faced delays. The appeals court is considering whether to overturn an earlier ruling by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue the case despite her relationship with the prosecutor she hired.
