WASHINGTON — In the wake of the tragic attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, Special Counsel Jack Smith filed petitions to withdraw all criminal charges against President-elect Donald Trump for his mishandling of sensitive data and his attempt to revoke his 2020 presidential election.
In June 2023, Trump was initially charged with 37 felonies in a Miami federal court for improperly handling confidential materials he brought from the White House to his residence in Florida. These included conspiring to impede justice, providing false statements, and willfully keeping national defense information. The case was dismissed by a Florida judge, but Smith’s office had appealed.
In August 2023, Trump was charged separately with four felonies for his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election: conspiracy against rights, conspiracy to impede an official process, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding.
After that, the lawsuit was put on hold for months as Trump’s attorneys argued that it should be dismissed for a number of reasons, including the fact that a former president cannot be held accountable for his acts while in office.
According to Trump, the prosecutions were carried out for political reasons. He entered not guilty pleas in both federal prosecutions and has never publicly acknowledged that his election claims were untrue.
Trump’s criminal indictments were the first time in American history that a president was accused of illegally trying to hold onto power, mishandling secret material, and attempting to thwart a government probe.
Additionally, their dismissal is a historic event. Half of American voters voted for Trump to win the presidency again, fifty years after both party leaders forced Richard Nixon to resign due to accusations of criminal behavior while in office.
Because of his election victory, Trump will be subject to the Justice Department’s long-standing rule that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted with a crime after he assumes office on January 20.
“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 s office stated in its filing on Monday.
Regarding the merits of the defendant’s prosecution, the government’s stance remains unchanged. However, the situation has changed,” the special counsel continued.
Congress has the authority to remove a president from office if they commit crimes, according to the DOJ policy that was implemented following the Watergate affair. It is intended to free current presidents from the burden of court cases so they can carry out their duties.
During his first term in office, Trump was able to dodge charges related to Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation thanks to the identical legal stance taken by DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel. Mueller’s team concluded that because they were unable to charge a sitting president, they were unable to determine whether they thought Trump had committed a crime. Mueller clarified in 2019 that we could not consider charging Trump. Smith’s case is currently being blocked by the same OLC opinion.
Smith’s team claimed that the special counsel’s office was torn between two strong and fundamental national interests after Trump was re-elected. The nation’s dedication to the rule of law and the long-standing belief that no man in this country is so high that he is above the law, on the one hand, and the Constitution’s requirement that the President not be overburdened in carrying out his heavy responsibilities, on the other.
According to a source who spoke to NBC News earlier this month, Smith and his team intend to step down before Trump takes office. Before he resigns, Smith must submit a report to the attorney general outlining his charging judgments in accordance with special counsel procedures.
Key help from conservative judges
Trump won the case handily thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity, which was rendered by conservative justices. Tanya Chutkan, the federal judge in charge of the case in Washington, was unable to have a trial prior to the election because the justices initially took months to reach a judgment.
They found that all of a president’s communications with the attorney general were “absolutely immune” from prosecution, and in a July opinion, they granted the president broad new protection from prosecution. Liberal justices contended in a minority opinion that the decision granted presidents the authority to direct federal criminal probes of their opponents without facing repercussions.
Aileen Cannon, the federal judge Trump selected to preside over the case involving sensitive data, dismissed all of the allegations against Trump two weeks later, accusing him of mishandling classified documents and trying to thwart the inquiry.
Cannon determined that Smith had not been duly constituted as a special counsel, a ruling that was widely criticized by legal experts and that Smith vowed to pursue. Decades of earlier decisions by both conservative and liberal judges were overturned by the unexpected decision.
A second federal grand jury charged Trump in August on the same four allegations in the election case, claiming that Trump knew his false assertions about widespread voting fraud in the 2020 election were unfounded, objectively irrational, and constantly evolving. Smith was unable to pursue such claims, however, after Trump was re-elected.
In a statement, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung stated, “Today’s DOJ decision is a major victory for the rule of law and ends the unconstitutional federal cases against President Trump.” President Trump and the American people are eager to bring our nation together and demand that the political weaponization of our legal system halt immediately.
Judges have been told by numerous Jan. 6 defendants that they regret being “gullible” enough to believe Trump’s lies, which were repeated by the president-elect’s supporters, Republicans in Congress, and conservative social media influencers.
Before Trump takes office again, the Justice Department is working to apprehend the “most egregious” protesters. The president-elect has declared that he will pardon a certain percentage of the rioters from January 6, whom he has referred to as fighters, incredible patriots, political prisoners, and hostages.
On January 20, 2025, he is anticipated to take the oath of office as president by passing through the lower west tunnel, the scene of some of the deadliest bloodshed on January 6.
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