US prosecutors drop major criminal cases against Trump Story by DPA International.
The US Justice Department on Monday moved to drop the two major federal criminal cases against Donald Trump, marking a major success for the former president shortly before he returns to the White House.
US special counsel Jack Smith, who has been leading the two federal cases against the president-elect, filed a motion to dismiss the case against Trump in Washington over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The motion was swiftly granted by the presiding judge.
Smith also withdrew his appeal against the dismissal of a criminal case in Florida in which Trump was accused of illegally storing classified documents from his term in office at his private Mar-a-Lago resort.
Smith justified the move by citing Justice Department policy that the United States does not investigate sitting presidents.
Trump's spokesman Steven Cheung called the end of the proceedings "a major victory for the rule of law" in a statement, again describing the cases as "unconstitutional."
"The American People and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system," Cheung wrote.
Smith had already revised the indictment for the election interference case over the summer, following the Supreme Court's ruling to grant US presidents broad immunity for official acts.
If convicted in that case, the former president would have faced decades in prison.
However, as the proceedings were at federal level, Trump would have likely halted them after taking office on January 20.
It was initially unclear whether the proceedings are to be resumed after his second term is over, but experts consider it possible that the Republican could pardon himself once in office.
In the motion to dismiss the case, Smith wrote: "The Government's position on the merits of the defendant's prosecution has not changed. But the circumstances have." He emphasized that the decision was not based on the merits of the prosecution, which he said "the Government stands fully behind."
Smith still intends to proceed with the cases against two of Trump's co-defendants in the documents case - the former president's assistant Walt Nauta and lawyer Carlos De Oliveira.
Trump was criminally charged several times after his first term in office. In addition to the proceedings in Washington and Florida, he was found guilty in a hush money trial at the state level in New York, but sentencing in that case was postponed indefinitely last week.
Further proceedings in Georgia are also currently paralysed due to legal manoeuvring.
Trump is scheduled to be inaugurated on January 20 after winning the presidential election against Democrat Kamala Harris at the beginning of November.
Comments
Post a Comment