Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday dropped his election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump, while also moving to drop his appeal of a judge’s decision in the president-elect’s classified documents case.
In a six-page court filing in a Washington federal court, Smith’s team argued that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has long argued “that the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated,” referring to Trump’s recent election victory.
“This outcome is not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant,” the filing states.
His office said that prosecutors have conferred with Trump’s attorneys, who indicated they do not oppose the government’s motion.
“Based on the Department’s interpretation of the Constitution, the Government moves for dismissal without prejudice of the superseding indictment,” the court documents state.
At the same time, in an appeals court, Smith also wrote he is dropping his appeal of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s July decision to dismiss a case that accused the president-elect of illegally retaining classified records and allegedly obstructing an investigation.
“Dismissing the appeal as to defendant Trump will leave in place the district court’s order dismissing the indictment without prejudice as to him,” his filing said. But his appeal concerning two other defendants in the case, Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, “will continue because, unlike defendant Trump, no principle of temporary immunity applies to them.”
Cannon had dismissed the case after agreeing with arguments that Smith was not lawfully appointed as special counsel. Smith in August asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to reverse her decision.
The move marks an end to Smith’s criminal pursuit of Trump over the past two years or so accusing him of attempting to illegally overturn the 2020 election. Smith accused Trump of mishandling classified documents in a separate case, which was dismissed over the summer by a federal judge.
The decision was anticipated after Smith’s team said in court filings that it was assessing how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the classified documents case in the wake of Trump’s win on Nov. 5 over Vice President Kamala Harris.
According to Smith’s team, the DOJ believes that the president-elect can no longer be tried in accordance with longstanding policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.
The DOJ policy that Smith is referring to, dating back to the 1970s, holds that a criminal prosecution of a sitting president would violate the U.S. Constitution by undermining the ability of the country’s chief executive to function.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the case, will still have to approve the request from prosecutors.
Trump has often criticized the two cases that were brought by Smith, named as the special counsel by outgoing Attorney General Merrick Garland, describing them as attempts to use the DOJ to target a political opponent. Earlier this year, Trump told a radio host that if he were elected, he would move to remove Smith as special counsel.
Smith’s election case ultimately resulted in a July 1 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said presidents can enjoy some immunity from prosecution for their official acts and duties.
Months later, Smith filed a superseding indictment that argued that Trump acted on his own accord and not within his presidential duties when he allegedly broke the law. Trump had pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Trump’s lawyers had previously said they would seek to dismiss the charges based on a Supreme Court ruling in July that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution over official actions taken while in the White House.
Trump also faced similar, election-related charges in Fulton County, Georgia. However, that case is in limbo after a co-defendant accused the prosecutor, Fani Willis, of being in a romantic relationship with her special counsel, Nathan Wade, who resigned earlier this year after a judge issued an order.
That Fulton County judge allowed Willis to remain on the case. Trump and several co-defendants petitioned the Georgia Court of Appeals to reject the judge’s ruling, effectively pausing the case.
In Trump’s business records case in New York, sentencing was postponed indefinitely last week by a judge after Trump’s election win. On May 30, Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to payments he made during the 2016 presidential campaign, which he had denied were illegal.
Sentencing in that case was initially scheduled for July but was postponed until Nov. 26. In a ruling on Nov. 22, Judge Juan Merchan wrote that he was granting a request to adjourn that sentencing date.
Reuters contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times