(AFP) – Donald Trump’s legal woes — or at least most of them — will not follow him back to the White House. Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought two federal cases against the former president, moved on Monday to drop both cases against the now president-elect. Not because of a lack of evidence, Smith was careful to emphasize, but rather because of a long-standing Justice Department policy of not indicting or prosecuting a sitting president.
“The Government’s position on the merits of the defendant’s prosecution has not changed,” he said. “But the circumstances have,” the prosecutor added in a nod to Trump’s November 5 election victory over Kamala Harris. Smith did leave open the possibility of Trump being tried after he leaves office — he asked Judge Tanya Chutkan to dismiss the election interference case “without prejudice,” meaning it can be refiled at some point. Chutkan granted the request, noting that “the immunity afforded to a sitting President is temporary, expiring when they leave office.”
“Of course there may be no appetite (for prosecution) in 2029, but this preserves that option,” said Barbara McQuade, a law professor at the University of Michigan. Trump, 78, was accused of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden and mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House. A Trump-appointed judge in Florida dismissed the classified documents case on the grounds that Smith was unlawfully appointed. Smith appealed the decision by Judge Aileen Cannon but dropped his appeal on Monday, citing Trump’s election and the Justice Department policy.
The election interference case never came to trial, as it was delayed at every turn by Trump’s attorneys as he sought re-election as the Republican presidential candidate. The US Supreme Court eventually ruled in July that an ex-president has broad immunity from prosecution for acts committed in his official capacity, forcing Smith to bring the case to a new grand jury and issue a new indictment. As president, Trump could have made the two federal cases disappear and could potentially prevent them from being brought again by attempting to preemptively pardon himself before leaving the White House. Trump pledged during the election campaign to fire Smith “within two seconds” of taking office.
Trump was accused of conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding — the session of Congress called to certify the Biden victory, which was violently attacked on January 6, 2021, by a mob of Trump supporters. Trump was also accused of seeking to disenfranchise US voters with his false claims that he won the 2020 election.
– State cases – Trump also faces two state cases — in New York and Georgia. He was convicted in New York in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election to stop her from revealing an alleged 2006 sexual encounter. Trump was scheduled to be sentenced in July, but his lawyers asked that his conviction be tossed out in light of the Supreme Court immunity ruling. Trump was to have been sentenced Tuesday, but last week, judge Juan Merchan postponed the sentencing indefinitely.
Trump, the first former president convicted of a crime, faces up to four years in prison on each count. As a first-time offender, however, he was considered far more likely to receive a fine and probation — and that was before his White House win. In Georgia, Trump faces racketeering charges over his efforts to subvert the 2020 results in the southern state, but that case will likely be frozen while he is in office. The case has also been bogged down in accusations of impropriety by the Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis, who acknowledged having had an intimate relationship with the man she hired to be a special prosecutor.
– Chris Lefkow
© 2024 AFP
