Jack Smith asked the two judges in charge of these cases to drop their proceedings, on the grounds that Donald Trump was elected president of the United States.
Two legal proceedings soon evaporate for Donald Trump. The special prosecutor who is investigating the case against the president-elect, for his attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 election and in the classified documents affair, recommended this Monday, November 25, in two separate motions, the judgment prosecutions in these two cases.
Since his election on November 5, Donald Trump appeared certain to escape these two procedures, for illegal attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 election won by Joe Biden, and for withholding classified documents after his departure from the White House. The ex-president and now president-elect, accused of trying to stay in power despite his defeat in 2020, is notably charged with “plot against American institutions” and“attack on the right to vote” voters.
Jack Smith is thus complying with a policy adopted more than fifty years ago by the American Department of Justice, which consists of not prosecuting a sitting president. Although the case of a candidate criminally prosecuted and then elected president is “unprecedented”, the department concluded during deliberations with the special prosecutor's office that this policy “applies to this situation”, explained Jack Smith in his request to Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is investigating the Capitol case.
Prosecutions concerning the Capitol could be revived at the end of the mandate
Jack Smith did the same, writing to Federal Judge Aileen Cannon, who is prosecuting the withholding of classified documents case. Trump was accused of compromising national security by keeping documents, including military plans and information on nuclear weapons, in his private residence after the end of his term, instead of handing them over to the national archives.
In the Capitol affair, Jack Smith calls for an end to the proceedings, without prejudging the course of events, which leaves open the possibility that they could be relaunched at the end of Donald Trump's mandate. The special prosecutor had already embarked on this path by obtaining from the judge, a few days after the vote of November 5 which ended in the victory of the Republican candidate, the cancellation of all the deadlines on the calendar of this case.
These decisions “ends unconstitutional federal cases against President Trump and constitutes a major victory for the rule of law,” applauded Trump's communications director, Steven Cheung, in a statement. Back in the White House, Donald Trump could either appoint a new Justice Minister who would fire Jack Smith or simply order his Justice Department to drop the charges against him.
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